Lethal Secrets
by Mobilisinmobili
Summary: (An alternative twist to the happenings of the Survey Corp) Levi vowed to end the man who almost made him into a monster. But that was a promise made years ago. He's grown up and since moved on, or so he thinks. When worlds collide and roads cross again Levi is stuck between a rock and a hard place. But choices need to be made and debts paid. He refuses to go down without a fight.
1. Calm Before the Storm

**The tension in the air was palpable with one seated behind a large oak desk and the other leaning against the closest wall. **

"Your word Levi". Erwin said looking more tired than ever but still maintaining his stoic commander esque aura.

"Stop this cloak and dagger shit and just tell me what's happening Erwin", Levi hissed back looking very close to losing what little patience he had left.

The temperature had dropped considerably over the span of a week The crisp cool air and sun had been viciously taken over by a biting cold and an onslaught of sleet and thunder. This left Commander Erwin and Captain Levi working overtime filling out papers for rations so that they wouldn't be left supply less in the upcoming weeks. Between training the cadets, planning out new strategies and missions, and filling out paperwork sleep had been non existent for the past few weeks. Needless to say, both of them were running out of patience. Erwin dropped the pen he had been holding on to and attempted to rub the tiredness from his eyes. With a tired sigh he leaned foward so that his elbows touched the desk with clasped hands.

"Alright, but promise me this".

"Oh for fucksake Er-".

"I am not the one you'll go after. I'm just the messenger okay?"

Levi squinted curiously at Erwin, pushed off the wall from his leaning position and strode over to Erwin's desk. Levi smacked both hands down onto the table and pushed himself forward so that he was less than a foot from Erwin's face.

"Pray tell Erwin, what would motivate me to hurt the messenger?" Levi asked, his voice cold as the weather outside.

"I have a feeling that you won't like the news I'll be sending."

The tension went up a peg

"You're nervous." Levi stated cautiously, his gut telling him that whatever the news was it wasn't going to be good in any way. It had made the stoic Commander Erwin lose his cool, and the only other time he had seen that look on Erwin's face was during a mission gone entirely FUBAR,

"Spit it out Erwin!" The building ominous feeling coupled with the tension crackling in the air killed off whatever shred of patience Levi had left in him.

"Fine. Fine. Just, don't kill any cadets okay?"

Levi's glare bore into Erwin.

"Commander Pixis has thought it wise to bring in a new instructor for the survey corp".

Levi arched a brow clearly looking like he was ready to ask why this had anything to do with him.

"Let me finish, it does concern you."

Levi kept quite and Erwin continued on.

"Pixis specifically told me that the instructor specifically requested that he be partnered with you during his stay here."

"You know I work alone." Levi's eyes narrowed.

"And I told Pixis that, but it seems that he won't budge and neither will the instructor, So, for the next month or so you'll be working with him."

"I don't work with anybody Erwin." Levi replied irritably, I fucking refuse.

"It's not my call to make Levi" Erwin replied looking more and more tired by the minute.

"Oh for fucksa-".

Levi was interrupted by a knock on the door. Both men hastily straightened up and masked their fatigue with twin looks of attention.

"Come in" Erwin replied.

"Ah, I see you've told Captain Levi about the new plan" Pixis said, totally oblivious to the muscles working in Levi's jaw.

"With all due respect sir, I prefer working alone." Levi bit out in the most respectful way he could.

"But you see Captain, it's already been set, so your opinion does not matter." Pixis replied in a jovial tone.

"I just dropped by to make sure that you actually came around to telling Levi, the instructor is coming this evening after all, we don't want anyone to be caught off guard."

Levi eyes opened a fraction wider in surprise.

"He's coming tonight?" Levi hissed.

Clearing his throat, "Actually commander, I was in the middle of informing him."

"Oh, I see, well I'll see my way out then."

He turned to Levi, "I do hope everything works out well Captain."

Pixis gave a salute to which both me returned and walked out of the room closing the door quietly behind him.

The tension spiked upwards.

Levi took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. Then he turned to glare at Erwin who seemed slightly apologetic.

"He coming tonight and you tell me this now?" Levi hissed. "Who even is he?"

"His name i-"

There was a knock on the door.

"Oh for fucksake... Come in!" Levi spun around to face the unfortunate knocker. The poor cadet looked ready to run straight back out with the withering glare Levi was giving him.

"What the fuck do you want brat?" Levi barked. Erwin dropped his head onto his hands

"Um.. Sir.. Captain Levi sir, we have a problem..."

"Obviously you little shit, stop beating around the bush and spit it out!" If possible Levi's glare intensified.

The cadet twiddled with his harness not able to make eye contact. "We were just joking around during training and .. and someone dared Crons to 3DMG across the practice space blind folded. and... um... well.."

Levi took another deep breath and rubbed at his face in irritation.

"So what brat, get to the point."

"Crons missed a branch and he fell and we didn't know if we should transport him to the infirmary or... He was bleeding and we think he broke a leg..."

Levi shot Erwin a withering glare as if this whole fiasco was somehow of Erwin's doing.

"Tell the other cadets to get back to training, I'll be out in a moment. And you," Levi barked spinning around to face Erwin, "This talk is not over yet."

Levi stormed out slamming the door behind him.

"This is going to be complicated"... Erwin thought to himself as he sighed and resigned himself to filling out the rest of the mountain of paperwork he had left. All he had to do was to have Levi and the instructor in one piece by the end of the month. "How hard could it be?" He thought to himself...

* * *

The weather outside lightened up considerably, enough so so that the sky was just a peaceful grey. Erwin stomped down on a thought that came up and prayed to whatever deity was up there that this wasn't symbolic for the calm before the storm.


	2. Hell Hath No Fury Like an Irritated Levi

When Levi arrived at the bloodied location of Crons and the other recruits he felt the beginnings of what would become one hell of a migraine. "

What the fuck happened?"

Levi hissed his voice deathly quiet. The recruits nearest to him jumped out of the way to give him a wide berth. No one spoke.

Levi let out an aggravated sigh and with lighting fast movement, pinned the nearest recruit to a tree, hands loosely holding him there by the neck.

"So... No one is willing to talk huh?"

He turned to look at the cowarding recruit.

"Let's start with you then. . . ?"

emphasizing each word by closing in tighter."C-cap-tain..C-ccan't -" Levi unhinged his fingers from the cadet's neck and took a step back as the recruit fell unceremoniously to the ground. Taking a step forward towards the dazed recruit Levi's aura of irritation grew and everyone knew that an irritated Levi would only mean pain.

"How are you?" Levi asked suddenly all calm and caring with a small smile on his face. "...Um...I-I'm fine captain..." the recruit replied tentatively. Everyone was thrown for a loop. "Good. That's good." Levi replied, smile still in place. Then he crouched down so that he was face to face with the recruit. "I'm not in the most patient of moods today, so if you don't start talking right now I will make sure that you don't feel 'fine' in a very very long time. Do I make myself clear ?"

With that Levi's smile turned feral.

"Y-yes sir!"

"Good. Get on with it brat."

"Um...We-we were in the middle of training and um - Crons and a few of his buddies were joking around and talking and then one of his buddies started talking about you and

one of Cron's buddies swore that he saw you using 3DMG with your eyes closed."

Levi was not at all amused.

"Go on."

"Crons started showing off and said he could do that too. One thing lead to another and then all of a sudden the recruits on the ground started pointing up at the trees and we saw Crons. He was doing okay at first but then all of a sudden he started coming down really fast. We all just thought he was being gutsy and showing off, but then he hit the ground and we all freaked out and we sent Andle to go find you.."

The recruit was gasping for breath after he was done.

"What's your name recruit?" Levi asked nonchalantly

"Rembre sir!"

Levi nodded and abruptly stood up and strode over to where Crons was sprawled, legs in awkward angles.

"Cadet Crons, can you hear me?" Levi barked.

There was no reply, only whimpering and heavy breathing. Levi spun on his heels and began to walk away.

"Captain Levi sir, what about Crons?" a voice in the crowd asked.

"Take him to the infirmary" Levi replied nonchalantly. "And then every one of you can begin running laps. Until dinner."

There were groans and muttering going around.

"But captain, that's 3 straight hours!" That's crazy!" "Yeah!"

Levi stopped abruptly. "I can make it 6 if you'd like." He replied icily and continued onwards.

The location of Erwin's office allowed Levi to keep an eye on the recruits from the window as they ran.

"Levi, it's below zero degrees outside." Erwin commented.

"Hmmm..." Levi murmured back eyes fixed on the recruits.

"They've been running for 3 hours Levi" Erwin started exasperatedly.

"Not yet. It won't be 3 hours until the dinner bell rings" Levi replied flatly.

"Did you re-"

- RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING -

A cheer went up from the recruits.

"Yes Erwin" Levi said turning to face him, "I did plan it so it would be exactly 3 hours."

"How- I'm just not going to ask"

Levi smirked.

"Lets go, I'm starving" Erwin said abruptly standing and stretching. Levi looked mutinous.

"Not until you tell me who the fuck this new guy is" Levi pushed.

"Levi, I swear to you, once we have dinner I'll tell you everything. I missed lunch because of a meeting and I'm starving."

Levi looked like he was going to rebel, but he dropped it.

"Fine, but I get to know immediately after dinner, no more 'busy' bullshit."

Erwin looked relieved.

"I promise."

With that the two made their way down to the mess hall.

Unbeknownst to everyone, a carriage made its way through the gates into the survey corp training camp.


	3. He Who Fights Monsters

Dinner was a quiet affair, at least for Levi and Erwin it was. They had decided that they would eat in the mess hall with the other recruits, partially because they wanted to stretch their legs and also because Levi wanted to keep an eye on them to make sure that, "the little shits would get too cocky like that idiot Crons". Erwin had chuckled a bit at that which cause Levi to send him a withering glare. "You have to admit, it is pretty funny. 'Humanity's Strongest' can not only take down titans, he can do it with his eyes closed." That earned him a punch to the arm.

As dinner was drawing to a close the door to the mess hall opened and in walked 4 Military Police captains. The mess went silent. Noticing the sudden silence, Erwin and Levi refocused their attention. They found themselves to be in the center of attention when the four MPs marched over to their table.

"Dok, to what do I owe this pleasure? Four MPs coming out all the way to the Survey corp camp personally is definitely rare".

Dok leaned in so that it was only Erwin and Levi who could hear him.

"He's here. I told him to wait in the carriage but he refused, said he'd rather wait in your office."

"I see... This complicates things..." Erwin shot a worried glance towards Levi.

Dok arched his brows.

"You have told him haven't you? He is the one who will be working with the guy after all."

Levi was beginning to feel something was amiss.

"Actually Dok, he hasn't told me who the fuck this guy is. I don't even have a name".

Before Dok had his chance to reply Shadis marched into the mess hall.

"Alright, all trainees, out in the practice field now!" His eyes searched the room until he found what he was looking for.

"Captain, I need you to come with me. Pixis wants to talk to you."

Levi sent one last, slightly confused, glare in Erwins direction and marched out of the mess following Shadis.

"So he has no clue..." Dok sounded skeptical at this.

"I told him I'd tell him after dinner finished...I had no idea that he was coming so soon" Erwin replied dropping his head onto his hands and then rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"Oh ho ho. He's going to be pissed" Dok stated sounding a little too gleeful for Erwin's liking.

"He's going to kill me" Erwin said looking completely worn out.

"Hey, who knows, maybe they've settled their differences already" Dok said patting Erwin on the shoulder. "We should head to your office, he has a tendency to be impatient."

* * *

"Commander, with all due respect" Levi said looking extremely agitated. "I haven't been briefed on who this guy is. How am I supposed to introduce him if I don't know him?"

Pixis patted Levi on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, I assure you, you know this person. All you have to tell the trainees is that he's here to teach and he'll take over the rest."

Levi exhaled sharply and turned on his heel to ready the trainees.

* * *

Erwin spoke first, followed by Dok. And then all hell broke lose. When Levi took to the stage he was met with the salutes of the hundreds of trainees there in the training ground. He gave a brief salute back and began to speak.

"As you may have heard, in attempt to create and nurture trust and goodwill between the branches of the forces, the MPs have graced us with a new instructor. He will be staying here and teaching for the entirety of this month. I expect you all to give him the same respect that you would give to your immediate superiors, is that clear?" a chorus of yes sirs went up. "I'll leave the introductions up to him".

A figure proceeded to walk towards Levi from the other side of the stage. When his face came into the firelight and his features illuminated, Levi's heart stopped .And then all at once his breathing picked up pace and he subconsciously took a step back. Shooting a panicked glance at Erwin he froze.

"My name is Kenny Ackerman, and I'll be your new instructor for the remainder of this month."

* * *

**(I was going to end it here but I thought.. Why not? :) I hope you enjoy)**

Murmurs rippled through the crowd as they took in what had just transpired in front of them. The unshakable, humanity's strongest, had been shaken, and badly it seemed.

Clearing his throat Kenny continued.

"I am with the Military Police, but a branch of it in particular is where I work. The anti Human Suppression Squad.

Silence pressed on.

"It is my responsibility along with the others on this squad to actively seek out and destroy" he turned his head in Levi's direction, "any human who is considered dangerous to the state."

Levi dazedly found himself pulling out one of his swords.

A heavy hand on his shoulder snapped him out of that.

"Don't do anything rash Levi. Murdering an MP is no different from signing yourself up for a death sentence."

He unsheathed his sword.

Kenny looked over towards Levi

"Is there anything else I should say, 'captain' Levi?"

The sarcasm was dripping and evident.

Levi cleared his throat and got himself together.

"That is all. Lessons start tomorrow. Dismissed".

As the recruits filed out towards the barracks Levi turned to face Erwin. He was livid.

"Kenny Ackerman. You brought Kenny the Ripper?! Are you fucking out of your mind?!"

This time Pixis stepped in to answer.

"Captain Levi, please calm down. Kenny Ackerman has been a great asset to the state and has traded in his prison sentence for one of serving the Military Police. Not much unlike yourself."

Levi flinched. "He is _nothing _like me" he spat.

"Well, it's too late to change plans now. I suggest that whatever bad blood is between you two be figured out and handled quickly and quietly. Do I make myself clear captain?"

Levi growled.

"Do I make myself clear captain?" Pixis repeated, this time more sternly."

"Yes sir" Levi bit out.

"Good! Now that everything has been settled, I'll be taking my leave" Pixis stated jovely.

"Me too" Dok agreed.

The group took their leave and Erwin was left alone with Levi on the empty practice ground.

* * *

"Levi liste-"

Levi turned to face him, blood lust in his now frigid eyes.

"This means war Erwin".

Erwin stepped back surprised at the raw anger that was radiating off of Levi.

"I made the mistake years ago of not ending him. I won't make that mistake again"

* * *

Ooooo, Levi is pissed... Anywho, You'll get to know more about Levi and Kenny's past in the next couple of chapters.

Please R&R!


	4. I'll Burn the Heart Out of You

(_Italics mean that it is a memory, Most likely Levi remembering stuff from the past)_

The next morning had arrived far too early and Levi woke up to the winter sun shining on his face. This did not have a good effect on his already anxious state. Instead of feeling awake and ready to face another day like he normally did, he felt quite the opposite. But he had no time to waste, he had to meet with the bastard before today's lessons started. He mumbled to himself about cruel deities who obviously found joy in the twisted aspects of life. He most definitely believed that the gods had something against him. Probably from his past life...

Levi shook his head and got back to getting ready for the day.

* * *

"Long time no see brat" Kenny smirked.

Oh how Levi wished he could rip that smirk off of his face.

"Why are you here?" Levi asked flatly.

"For unity between the military branches and all of that fluffy bullshit. You were there too brat".

"Drop the fucking bullshit Kenny. . ?" Levi looked ready to kill.

"Oh spare me the 'humanity's strongest' bullshit. You don't scare me runt. I raised you remember?"

Kenny lit up a cigarette.

"Anyways, we're supposed to be working together remember? So shut up and listen."

Levi stayed silent.

"If you follow along, you might even be able to salvage this shitty situation you're in right now" Kenny blew out smoke towards Levi's face.

"What situation?" Levi demanded fanning the putrid smoke away from himself.

"Shut up, I hear footsteps. A lot of footsteps. I'm guessing class has begun" Kenny stated as he ground out his cigaret with his heel.

Levi groaned. This month was going to be very very long.

* * *

There were 34 trainees in the current class. Levi had counted. Three times. Kenny had stayed in the front and Levi had taken his place in the back, leaning against the farthest wall from Kenny. This way he would be able to keep an eye on him at all times. The class had been proceeding well enough. There was an introduction to what exactly it was that Kenny did for the MPs and how it differed from the Survey Corp. It was all meaningless chatter. They didn't get into the serious stuff until Kenny had decided that he was done answering the dozens of trivial questions that the eager trainees had.

Levi was snapped out of his daze when Kenny threw a small weight ball in his direction. Years of training he had forgotten about had kicked in and Levi caught it before it had made contact with his face.

"Captain Levi, if you could, come up to the front. We are teaching together after all."

Levi heaved a sigh and lazily walked up to the front.

"Now, none of you have been told what exactly it is that you will be learning from me, so I'll tell you now". The trainees leaned in eagerly.

"I will be teaching hand to hand combat, weapons knowledge, reconnaissance, and a broad introduction to the art of assassination".

Many of the trainees smiles faltered.

Levi spun to face Kenny.

"We're Survey Corp, they don't need to know how to assassinate people" Levi bit out.

"It seems to have served you well enough captain" Kenny replied cooly.

Levi's eyes narrowed.

"That was the past Mr. Ackerman, and it has nothing to do with them" Levi hissed.

"Oh doesn't it? Do they know captain? Have you told them? They are under your care and lead, they deserve to know exactly what type of person they are serving under" Kenny crowed.

The tension between them was palpable, and a few of the trainees gulped worriedly hoping that there wouldn't be a brawl.

Kenny broke it off first with a light hearted chuckle.

"Unfortunately captain, this is what Pixis decided would be what I would teach. It's not my place to say anything against his word".

He turned to face the trainees.

"Don't worry, I meant a very very broad introduction, there will be no actual bloodshed".

He turned back to Levi

"Is that okay with you captain?"

Levi could only nod.

* * *

"Now, there are 5 things you should know when you are on a recon or assassination mission. Captain Levi would you be willing to help us out?"

The muscles in Levi's jaws were tense.

"Oh but Mr. Ackerman, you are the professional when it comes to these things, I think you would be better suited to tell them" Levi bit out mockingly.

"But we are supposed to be working together captain. Remember?" Kenny mocked back.

Levi exhaled sharply. He shot one last hateful glare in Kenny's direction and turned to face the trainees. "I'll only be saying this once so pay attention". Levi glared at all of them.

**"****Don't trust anyone. Not your partner, not your informant. Only yourself, and be ready with a contingency plan."**

"_Don't screw up". Levi nodded. His first solo mission, as well as his first time out of that house in 7 years. He was young, reckless, and wanted to prove himself. He neared the allocated meeting place that he and his informant had chosen weeks prior. It was a simple heist, the best case scenario would end without Levi having to hide any bodies. As Levi hid in the shadows he began to feel something off about this situation. His informant was late. It was eerily quiet. Too quiet. And then shit hit the fan. A spray of bullets mixed with throwing knives made their way towards Levi's direction. He thanked whatever deity was up there for his speed, and he legged it out of there, but he wasn't careful enough. "Shit!" Levi hissed as something grazed the side of his neck, cutting a thin line. _

**"Don't ignore wounds. Even if they're small. Poisons can be hidden in the smallest of metal scraps."**

_Pushing himself to run faster Levi desperately tried to think of how he could salvage this situation. He had been tricked. No use in feeling angry he thought as he pushed the tendrils of anger down and out of his head. No, right now what he needed to concentrate on was what the next step was. He knew where he was, at least a rough outline of the area, and he knew there were abandoned houses nearby. "Plague houses" his mind whispered. "It'll have to do" Levi thought grimly to himself. He passed a few houses before he settled on the least decrepit looking one. After he caught his breath and made sure that his heart wasn't going to pound out of his chest, he re evaluated his situation. It was 22:00 hours and he had until 02:00 hours to get back to the house. Four hours... Levi cursed. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. Kenny wouldn't be happy. It was an utter failure. He opened his eyes in surprise when he felt something running down his neck. Blood? When did- Oh yeah... "Stupid" he thought as he brushed the blood off with the cuff of his shirt. Eyes closed again breathing deeply. He needed another plan. He opened his eyes to see a clock on the opposite wall still working. 00:10 it read. Levi's heart stopped. That couldn't be right. It was just 22:00... He reached towards his neck to scratch at the itchy wound. His fingers came away wet. His left shoulder was drenched in blood. When did...? Levi got up and took a deep breath. My name is Levi I am currently in Wall Sina it;s 00:10... Something Kenny drilled into his head during his study of poisons. He started towards the door. Levi maneuvered around Wall Sina towards the familiar path to the underground. He blinked. Where was he? He was passing a row of stores tightly packed in the grunge. Sina's underground market. He passed a few before he saw one with a clock. My name is Levi I am in the underground it is currently...Shit... _

_The clock read 04:00 hours. Levi had failed and was late. His head started feeling woozy and vision started tunneling. The last thing he saw was someone swoop out of the shadows towards him._

Levi grimaced at the memory that came up. Apparently Kenny remembered as well as he did because he was smirking at Levi's expression.

"Very good captain. Poisons can be put in almost anything, like an exploding bullet for example" Kenny's attention focused on Levi. Levi feeling so many eyes on him at once itched to rub at his neck. The wound was gone but the itch remained.

**"****Don't try to lie to your boss after you've failed. He'll know and you'll be in some deep shit. ****And don't try to plead with him either. If you're working that kind of job in the first place, chances are that your boss doesn't give a shit about apologies and pleading will just seem like weakness to him."**

_Levi woke up on a bed. That alone woke him up sounding alarm bells in his head. He sat up quickly. Too quickly. The room began to spin. _

"_You want to tell me what the fuck happened out there? _

"_Shit..." Levi knew that voice and tone. Kenny was not happy._

"_I got sidetracked by another heist." Levi didn't know what came over him or why he decided that lying to Kenny was at all a good idea. He regretted the words immediately after they tumbled out of his mouth. _

_Kenny arched his brow. "I see". _

_He stalked over to Levi and towered over him. He was scary when Levi was younger, but he was still scary to Levi at age 18. _

_Kenny with lightning fast motions grabbed a knife off of the side table and had Levi pinned on the ground knife dangerously close to his carotid. _

"_You think you can lie to me brat? Who did you think shot you in the first place? You failed and you didn't have a back up plan and you tried to cover it up from me?!" _

_Levi panicked, he knew what Kenny was capable of._

"_Please... "_

_Kenny left the room after two hours. He left Levi crawled into a ball, bleeding and battered possibly with a few broken ribs and definitely a broken arm. _

Levi looked up from that particularly bad memory to hear laughter, harsh and brittle. He instinctively flinched away.

" I remember that day... How is your arm brat?"

The tension in the room rose.

"It's fine. Drop it".

Kenny chucked and stepped up to give the last piece of advice to the recruits.

"Alright, lastly, and most obviously, **don't leave a trace**".

Snickers went up throughout the room. A voice in the back yelled, "But Mr. Ackerman, isn't that obvious?!"

Laughter filled the room.

Kenny cleared his throat and the sound died down.

"It is obvious, but even some of the best forget that when they let their guard down they leave traces. Even the smallest one can get you killed".

"Is that it then?" Levi asked relieved.

Kenny turned to face him.

"Oh no, there is an assignment to be done".

A collective groan.

"I want everyone to come up with 25 reasons why you would go against direct orders in danger of your life".

Levi raised his brow.

"25? What kind of assignment is that?"

Kenny grinned his feral grin.

"25. No more no less".

And then it hit Levi knew. He remembered.

"_what about the people inside?" He asked Kenny. "Just do as you're told brat. Stop asking questions". Levi hesitated, just for a moment before he went to go grab the barrels of gasoline. And then he heard a shriek. "It's a child..." thought Levi.. "No, just do it, shut up, stop thinking!" But it was too late. He couldn't bring himself to do it. So when he thought Kenny had gone far away enough he secretly broke them out of the container. They all ran, quiet thank yous on their lips. "So many children"... Levi thought absently... And then he went to work. He made it so that it looked like it had moments ago and doused the whole of the container in gasoline. Then he flicked a match and saw it go up in flames. And then he ran. _


	5. Watch the City Burn

News had spread quickly throughout the camp about the happenings of the two Ackerman's class first class. By lunch time, only two hours after the first class, rumors of Captain Levi's past were flying around. "I heard he killed people". "I heard he was behind the crown jewel heist a few years back". "I heard..."

* * *

Levi had locked himself into his office after the first class was over. Hate and rage coursed through him, but there was more. a small niggling emotion that he couldn't quite put a name to. He paced back and forth behind his desk, hands balled at his sides. This was beyond what he had expected. Levi stopped suddenly and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes and caught a bright yellow note sitting on his table. Rage momentarily forgotten Levi picked up the note and then regretted having done so after reading the message,*"Vingt-cinq, ni plus ni moins". Of course it was in French. He hadn't seen that language in a long while, the language of Sina's underground mobsters. Rage coursed through Levi twofold and in a moment of blinding fury he swept everything that was on his desk to the floor. Papers fluttered and a tea cup was smashed, and ink sprayed everywhere on the hardwood floor. He straightened himself up and took another deep breath. Shaking hands rubbed at his tired eyes and with a jolt he realized what the emotion was, and his heart sank. He was scared. Humanity's Strongest reduced nearly to tears because of one person. Stupid. Levi's hatred for Kenny spiked and he wished now more than ever that he at least tried to kill the man. Before Levi knew what he was doing a feral yell ripped through him and he found himself grasping his chair and promptly slamming it through the window. After it registered in his mind what he had done he was extremely thankful that all of the recruits were at lunch. He set his chair back down and he sat, arms folded on top of his head coming to a rest on his desk as though he were trying to hide himself from the world.

* * *

Levi didn't even register the knock that came or the hand that was gently shaking him. It was as though he was hearing something from underwater, it sounded muffled. Not quite distinguishable yet. "L...Levi...LEvi...LEVI!" With that he bolted up and attempted to find something, anything he could hide behind. It was something drilled into his mind from his time with Kenny. He had thought he had gotten over it.

"Levi, it's me, Erwin" Erwin was startled by Levi's sudden movements and had taken a step or two back from the desk. He furiously racked his memory for any other time that Levi had acted this way. Meanwhile Levi was trying very hard not to hyperventilate. He didn't understand what had happened. There was no way he would have fallen asleep. From somewhere vaguely above and to the right of where he was hiding he heard Erwin's timber voice reassuring Levi that it was only him and that everything was okay and that he was safe.. Erwin slowly and carefully made his way towards where he assumed Levi was making no sudden loud noises careful to not spook Levi more than he already was. Whatever had Levi spooked had done a very good job. He hadn't ever seen Levi lose control this way. Crouching down a few inches away from Levi Erwin saw that Levi looked like shit. He looked as though he hadn't slept in a few days.

"Levi, are you okay? What happened?" Erwin asked tentatively. Levi turned his head still slightly dazed. "He left a note" replied Levi in a clipped tone. "Is it the yellow one?" Erwin asked as he rose to go retrieve the note he saw on the floor next to the window. It hit Levi all at once. "Don't touch it!" He said in a panicked tone. Erwin immediately put up both hands in a sign of peace. "He's tampered with it. It's been coated in a drug. Stupid! How did I miss that?!" Levi stood up warily. "What time is it Erwin, and why is it so cold?" The temperature had finally caught up to him and he noticed belatedly that he could see his breath in the air. "It's 23:00 and your window is smashed..." Erwin looked concerned. Levi merely nodded, "I see..." "I think you should get some rest Levi, you don't look too good". Erwin couldn't say for sure, but he wouldn't be surprised if Levi ended up catching the flu. Levi looked as though the symptoms had all caught up at once. "Yeah. I'll do that". He walked towards the door stopping once to tell Erwin thank you and then left. Erwin was definitely worried.

* * *

That night Levi tossed and turned all night half plagued by nightmares and half hallucinations from the flu. He was grateful when the sun streamed through his window. Dragging himself out of bed and towards the bathroom he caught a sight of his reflection. He really did look like shit. He was already pale to begin with, but now his face looked waxy and taut. Eyes darkened and deadened, highlighted by the deep dark bags under his eyes. Still he soldiered on and made his way towards the lecture hall. He met Kenny outside of the building smoking a cigaret.

"You look like shit brat" Kenny puffed in greeting.

"Mhmm..." Levi didn't have the energy to dignify that with his signature sarcasm..

"I'm assuming you received my note yesterday. My my captain, your office was a mess".

Levi only glared at him, hatred emanating from him.

"I'm just saying, it would be unfortunate if the ban on targeting Commander Erwin were lifted..."

That garnered Levi's attention real fast.

"What the fuck are you talking about" he rasped voice sounding jagged and painful.

"What I'm saying is that the people you took from want their payment".

Levi's face contorted into one of anger.

"Fuck off" Levi rasped and proceeded to continue on into the hall.

Kenny laughed. The brat had gotten the message. He could see by the glint of fear in his eyes. "It had been too long since the last time Levi had truly known fear" he thought to himself. Today would be an interesting lesson.

* * *

"Today we are taking a different approach" Kenny stated. "Since it's too icy outside to do any combat training like we were supposed to, we're going to go slightly off on a tangent. But don't worry, this still has a little bit to do with assassination and reconnaissance. Levi had taken his previous position at the back of the room, and had begun to drift off. He was awoken by Kenny's sudden presence by his side. Hands waved in front of his eyes, he caught them in a painful grasp.

"Captain, if you would kindly rejoin the class" Kenny sounded quite bemused.

" I can't even talk today Ackerman. What the fuck am I supposed to do?" Levi rasped voice sounding worse than before.

"You're just going to have to suck it up captain because you're the specialist in this field" Kenny drawled.

Levi wiped his face with his hands and proceeded to follow Kenny down towards the front of the room, all eyes were on him.

"Today", Kenny stated with an air of grandeur that unsettled Levi, "we're going to be talking about the great genocide of 835".

Levi stiffened. "No fucking way". He focused his attention on the podium in front of him to help him get over the dizzy feeling that had suddenly come and attacked him as memories flooded pained head. He took a gulp of air.

"You know it just as well as I do Ackerman. Do it yourself" He glared sideways at Kenny.

Kenny leaned over to whisper in Levi's ear, "You owe me brat. I'm keeping your precious Commander alive for the time being".

Levi's hands clenched on to the sides of the podium. Knuckles turning white with force.

"Fine" Levi said flatly.

* * *

"As you all might have noticed already, I sound like shit, and I feel like shit too, so shut up so I don't have to repeat myself" Levi bit out.

There was a chorus of yes sirs.

Kenny proceeded to walk towards the back to take up the position Levi had vacated not too long ago Levi fixed his attention on the back while he glared a bullet into Kenny's head. Any other person would have begun squirming by this point, but it seemed that it didn't really affect Kenny. If anything he seemed to enjoy the discomfort and anger he cause Levi.

"Whenever you're ready captain" Kenny voiced from the back. To everyone else his tone sounded perfectly neutral, but Levi knew better. He had grown up under this man's care after all. All he heard was gloating and a twisted sense of power. He knew how close Levi was to the genocide.

Levi cleared his throat.

"You brats were probably too young to even know what was happening at the time. And it wasn't like the MPs went about spouting off things that happened in Sina's underground"... Kenny nodded his head as if to urge Levi to continue.

"There was an outbreak of plague. The underground was a disgusting place, it was bound to happen sooner or later" Levi formed his face into a mask of nonchalance.

"I think you should tell them who the main plague victims were captain, these youngins probably didn't even know that an underground existed" Kenny stated with mock sincerity.

Levi ground his teeth.

"The underground is comprised of every poor begging dirty scum that couldn't make it above ground. 90% of all illegal vine and drugs come from there along with most all of the other illicit activities that the nobles need done. It's a...hard place to be. Anyway," Levi shook his head to rid the lecherous memories that threatened to spill back from his carefully constructed mind walls. " Most of the people who lived there are dirt poor and can't afford much. The food was always tainted and sewer rats ran amok. One day news broke out that one of the biggest pubs in the underground found infected mead in their stores. But this pub was run by a rather ruthless mob and they effectively shut up anyone who tried to spread the word. It would be bad for business after all. Eventually people began to get sick. This wasn't just a fucking flu, these people rotted away slowly. Then to make things worse, the summer had come early and it was hotter than any other summer. People who were infected began to fester under the heat. The problem was that there was nowhere to hide. The underground is so jam packed that the plague reached everywhere. But the people had no money, and the nobles weren't interested in helping 'the scum of earth', so people started dying. Hundreds and hundreds of bodies out on the streets because people hoped that maybe they could hide from the plagues in their homes. But it was too late. People began rotting away and it got into the water and the food. There was death everywhere".

Levi's eyes had lost focus as he recollected those particular memories. elbows on the table and chin propped on top of his folded hands. The trainees were listening with rapt attention, like children listening to scary stories, they just couldn't look away.

"So people died out and the remaining were running out of space. Then the nobles got involved. They complained that the stench was reaching them and they wanted it gone" Levi's voice hardened at this, his clasped hands turning white from the pressure.

"So the MPs got involved one day. For a week they went door to door dragging out the infected. They didn't care whether they were elders or children, women or men, alive or dead. The majority of the children were orphaned that week. They had no place to go. But they were curious... Stupid. They had a morbid curiosity to what it was the MPs had planned. All they knew was that there were piles on top of piles of bodies all around the underground. Then on morning the city was on fire, and the MPs were nowhere in sight. The remaining few tried to get out, and a few of them did manage. The higher ups of the mobs were safe of course, they had struck up deals with the MPs and the nobles far before this plan was ever set in motion. They had built farther underground and were safe from the fires and plague. A few of them took this chance to grab a few kids to make up for the henchmen they lost"...

Levi unfolded his hands and pressed his palms into his eyes.

"That's what happened" Levi opened his eyes to glare back at Kenny.

From the back Kenny started slowly clapping. He lazily began to walk down towards where Levi was. Levi followed his movements warily. He knew there was something else. Kenny came to stand behind Levi, both hands resting on Levi's shoulders. Levi looked away with a shudder. Kenny leaned in to one side of Levi's face, "Ah but captain, it can't be that _everyone _living in the underground was bad, can it?" Levi could practically smell the gloating smirk on Kenny's face. Levi growled. Kenny stood back up hands still on Levi's shoulder. "If you don't tell them, I will" he said with surprising seriousness. Levi's head snapped up from his focus on the floor. He turned. "It doesn't concern them" Levi rasped harshly. Kenny leaned in so that only Levi could hear, "Oh, but I want them to know and I would have expected that you would want justice for your people. Dear me, dirty scum of earth were they?" Levi was visibly shaking with fury. He faced back towards the trainees. "There were also one other group of people living in the underground. They were cast out from aboveground and called mystics. They didn't believe in the Wall saint shit. They carried a belief that was older than before the walls were even built. The nobles tried to crush them, they didn't want this old world belief, they felt threatened. So, they were given a choice, evacuate underground or die. A few of them did rebel and stay, they were all killed. The ones who went below were hated by even the scum that lived underground. They kept to themselves and followed their beliefs. When the plague hit, the nobles used that opportunity to kill them too. They barricaded them into an area and set it aflame. All of them, all alive. They burned to death". Levi's eyes lost focus again. He vaguely felt the hands let go of his shoulders, but he couldn't move. His breath was coming in short gasps. His eyes are glazed over with an expression that unsettles the recruits. It's one that they've become intimately acquainted with over their training. It seemed so wrong on their fearless captain. But it was obvious to anyone who saw. Levi was afraid, very very afraid.

* * *

_Run! _

_His mother had been baking loaves of bread for the feast that was supposed to happen tonight. A new baby boy had been born. All the children were fussed at to leave the kitchen so that the food could be made without distraction. The men had begun setting out tables and were conversing with each other, all of them excited for the new baby's debut. Levi saw it first. There were plumes of smoke coming from the main part of the city. He rushed over to his father, "Father, the city, it's burning!" his father laughed and told him to go play with the other children so that the men could work. "But it is!" He tried to regain his father's attention. "Levi I tol-" he was cut off by the sound of a stamped heading this way. "What is that?" The man nearest his father asked. Then there were men swinging in from the sky, flying over them as though they had wings. "Everybody inside now! The eldest yelled". As they were running from safety, Levi felt a strong hand clamp down on his scrawny arm. He turned around to find a fist headed towards his face. He was too late, he was knocked out. But he woke up after a few moments to see that he was soaring above his home. His burning home. Everyone was inside... He began to struggle, and earned a second blow to the head for his troubles. He woke up with a splitting headache and a face looming over him. A not so gentle smack and a bucket of water later he was staring at a rather mean looking man. "Welcome to your new home brat". _


	6. The Price of Freedom

In the end it was Kenny who had to dismiss the trainees from class. Levi was still frozen in place eyes glazed over, stuck in his memories.

* * *

"Oi brat!" Kenny snapped.

There was no answer. He tried again.

"Hey, brat, snap out of it!"

Nothing still.

Kenny moved in with lightning speed. In a flash he had Levi pinned to the wall by his shirt collars, not so different from the way Levi had pinned Rembre before on the training ground. Kenny however wasn't worried about not ruffing Levi up too badly. When Levi turned and focused his hazy eyes on him, Kenny tried again.

"Levi, snap out of it!" He ordered while shaking Levi. But Levi wasn't quite back from his memories yet.

SLAP!

The sound echoed off of the walls of the empty lecture hall. It was loud and sharp. Before Levi could say anything, Kenny threw him off of the stage and onto a desk which promptly snapped in half. Levi caught his breath and picked himself up from off of the floor.

"Bastard." Levi hissed in pain. Gripping on to the nearest chair for support, he found that in his landing he managed to not only break one, but two desks and put a rather sizable hole in another.

"No wonder" he thought grimly. His back hurt like hell.

* * *

And then Kenny did another 180 turn. He had gone from just irritated to ready to kill. He was unpredictable like that. Levi had learned that lesson thoroughly.

"Did you remember?" Kenny asked, something in his voice warned Levi to run as far away from this man as he could. "The day I burned your family?"

Levi gritted his teeth and stayed quiet. It was never a good idea to respond to Kenny's question when he got like this.

"Have you ever wondered why I saved you instead of anyone else? Kenny's voice was getting dangerously soft, like a predator who stalking its prey. He slowly descended the stage and lazily made his way towards where Levi was. Levi watched warily, readying himself to run if need be.

"Have you wondered why I chose the smallest scrawniest one out of the group?"

From the corner of his eyes Levi saw the glint of a knife, and before Kenny could swing he leaped out of the way, back straining in protest.

"I picked you because I heard you talking to your father. You saw it before anyone else even noticed something was wrong. In your defense you did try to warn Him. But you didn't try hard enough did you? Nope. And then everyone ran into the house and then, BOOM!" Levi was desperately dancing out of Kenny's grasp unable to say anything back. The bastard was just too good.

"What's the matter Levi? Have you forgotten all of the hand to hand combat I've taught you?" Kenny mocked. With a frustrated grunt Levi jumped and tried to kick the knife out of Kenny's hand. But before you knew it, Kenny had grabbed a hold of his leg and was swinging him around. He knew this wouldn't end well. Suddenly, the grasp on Levi's leg was gone and he found himself soaring towards the window. The window that overlooked the training field where the recruits were practicing hand to hand combat. Fuck. All Levi could do was shield his face as he crashed through the window and fell to the to ground 2 floors down. He had a moment to catch his breath before he flipped backwards to avoid getting stabbed in the face.

The recruits had stopped what they were doing to see what the fuss was about.

"Look it's captain Levi and Mr. Ackerman!" "Oh my god is that a knife?!" "He's bleeding!" Shouts went up among the recruits. Levi had no time to listen. He aimed a well placed kick towards Kenny's stomach, which connected firmly earning him a few extra seconds. He took off on a dead run back towards the lecture hall. He needed to get up on the roof, it would be easier to maneuver around. Half way up the building Levi felt a sudden pain at his side and looked down to see Kenny's knife.

"Shit" he hissed. He wouldn't make it all the way. He made a split second decision and jumped. This time he had enough time to flip and land on his feet and then stumble over, the wound on his side bubbling red. Kenny was on him in an instant. Levi willed himself to remember what he had learned during his training sessions with Kenny. Suddenly, he found a way out and he took it, breaking into a run.

"Fuck!" he swore, as he zigzagged to avoid the small throwing knives that were flying his way. He ran towards the nearest alleyway between two buildings. It wasn't until he had made a left turn when the implications of his actions dawned on him. He had effectively cornered himself, and Kenny knew. With the spurt of energy Levi scaled between the two walls to arrive on top of the roof.

"Oh my god, he's on the roof!" the recruits and trainers alike both had completely dropped what they were doing to watch this game of cat and mouse unfold. The second implication hit him, this one harder than the last. Kenny had left him no choice but to run through the field full of recruits.

"Fuck no." Levi muttered and shook the thought from his head. He knew that by running through he would have increased his chances of survival, but he would also be putting all of the recruits in harms way. Kenny didn't play around with weapons after all. It was always life or death.

A voice cut through his thoughts.

"Don't you want to let the recruits in on the fun Levi? You seemed awfully determined to run away from them." Kenny sneered, clearly enjoying this.

Levi didn't respond. Just then, another knife whizzed past his neck, and Levi stumbled. He managed to grab onto the ledge and hauled himself into an empty hall Via the window. Kenny jogged in after him.

It was quiet for a couple of minutes before Levi emerged at the entrance of the building, clearly not sure of how he should continue.

"Come on Levi, weigh in the odds!" Kenny bribed.

Levi was concentrating on dodging Kenny's knife.

"Don't you trust them Levi? They _are _under your guidance after all. Do you think that they won't be able to fend for themselves?" Kenny taunted. His knife was slicing closer and closer to Levi. At the same time, Kenny was pushing Levi closer and closer to where the recruits were.

"Fuck! Where was Erwin?!" Levi thought, Panic slowly growing. He prayed to whatever deity that was up there that he would be able to pull Kenny away from where the recruits stood, transfixed by the sparring match between the two.

"You don't think they would kill each other do you?" Questions flitted through the recruits.

Levi was running out of time and he knew it. His vision had started to blur and and began feeling lightheaded. After a particularly vicious swipe Kenny had managed to cut off a lock of Levi's hair.

Levi had decided that it was time to change gears . What did Kenny tell him during his training? "If you need a bit of time, try to throw off your opponent verbally."

He knew he was grasping at straws, but he still took the chance.

"What the fuck do you want?!"

Levi hesitated a fraction of a second too long. He knew even before the kick came. Kenny had targeted one of Levi's weak spots. Two of his ribs had never properly healed after one of Kenny's punishment sessions went a bit father than it should have. There was a sound of bones breaking. Levi was on the ground gasping for air. Kenny picked him up by the collars of his shirt. Levi hissed as his stab wound was jostled.

"This is a message, or more like a reminder Levi. They aren't playing around and neither am I." Kenny stated with a ruthless smile.

"What is going on here?!" Erwin's timber voice boomed.

The recruits stepped back. Erwin was marching over to where the two stood glaring at each other.

"You have until the end of this month brat, and then your precious Commander is open game." Kenny whispered quickly.

Erwin reached the pair and shot Kenny an angry look.

"What is going on here Captain Ackerman?"

"Just a misunderstanding Commander." Kenny replied innocently putting levi back on the ground.

"Levi?" Erwin looked concerned.

"Like he said Erwin, it was just a misunderstanding."Levi schooled his features into a neutral glare.

Erwin glanced between the two of them and then look towards the recruits. "Get back to whatever it was you were doing immediately!" Erwin boomed, obviously unhappy at the answers he had received.

"You're dismissed Captain Ackerman" Erwin stated as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He opened his eyes to find both Levi and Kenny walking off in opposite directions.

"Not you Levi, you come with me." He heard an audible grumble, but Levi turned around and was walking towards him. He was obviously trying to hide the blossoming spot of scarlet and failing rather badly. Erwin took a steadying breath before ordering Levi to the infirmary.

"I'm fine Erwin, I can take care of it myself." Levi replied rebelliously.

He arched his brows at Levi and then ordered him by rank to get his ass to the infirmary. Levi grumbled mutinously, but he made his way towards the direction of the infirmary.

* * *

First the flu and then a stab wound... He would have to keep better watch over Levi from now on.

Erwin could already feel the migraine forming behind his eyes.

* * *

I'm back! That was a shorter hiatus than I thought I would be... Anywho, I had a whole day just to edit and stuff. And I think I have a BETA READER! Excited! :) anywho, I hope you all enjoy :)


	7. Demons Inside

The Survey Corp's infirmary wasn't big, but it wasn't small either, with so many recruits getting injured during 3DGM practice and combat practice, the infirmary always had a few recruits in it day in and day out. When Erwin pushed the doors to the infirmary open, a couple of recruits bolted to their feet to salute him.

"At ease" He replied, eyes slightly softening at their eagerness. His eyes wandered the length of the room until he reached the back corner. He could practically feel the irritation coming off in waves. He smirked and marched on towards where Levi was sitting wrapping his abdomen in white gauze. A bloody tray sat beside ladened with used scraps of cloth drenched in blood. Under it he could see the glint of a suture needle also covered in blood. Levi's eyes were furrowed with concentration and, if Erwin's guess was correct, pain that he was trying to hid. Levi kept his pain to himself. He had found this out the hard way years ago during their return from a particularly brutal trip outside the walls. One of the recruits had managed to accidentally cut rather deeply into Levi's leg. Erwin didn't even notice until the 4th day back.

"Stupid." He shook his head with equal parts of exasperation and fondness. As he came to a halt near the foot of the bed Levi had occupied, the movements stopped. With one end of the gauze held between his teeth and the other grasped by his outstretched hands He looked up towards Erwin, eyes wide for a second before settling back into his natural glare. Erwin had to admit that, in that moment Levi looked a lot like a puppy. A rather pissed off puppy, but a puppy none the less. Not that he was about to tell Levi that. He valued his life far too much for that...

"waf dfo wanf?" Levi bit out.

Erwin raised a brow.

"You might want to remove the gauze Levi, I can't understand what you're saying."

Levi glared at Erwin before removing the gauze from his mouth.

"What do you want?" Levi bit out again.

"I just came to see how my captain was doing. Am I not allowed to do so?" Erwin replied cheerfully, not at all being thrown off by Levi's dark aura.

"I could have done this in my office you know." Levi grumbled as he went back to work.

"Your office is currently under repair remember? The recruits are trying to get the ink out of the floor. They think you'll kill them in their sleep if your office isn't returned back to its pristine condition." Erwin crossed his arms and smirked down at Levi.

Without batting an eyelash Levi replied back completely deadpan, "I'll make sure to take that piece of information into consideration. Would you tell me the names Erwin, it'll make my hunt much easier. I am 'injured' after all." sarcasm dripped off of the word injured.

Erwin chuckled.

"I'm glad you're not too hurt. I was seriously worried Levi. What happened?" Erwin's tone went from amicable to worried.

Levi sighed and stopped working once more.

"If I can tell you one thing about Kenny it's that he doesn't joke around. Ever. Everything, every training exercise, every mission, it's life or death. He has no qualms about hurting anyone if they happen to mess up. I messed up. Simple as that Erwin. It's normal." Levi snorted after finishing the sentence.

"Normal..." he muttered.

Erwin didn't look satisfied. Quite the opposite actually. His became posture became more rigid and Levi felt Erwin's stare boring into his head.

"What?!" Levi snapped looking up to meet Erwin's eyes.

"There's something you're not telling me Levi." Erwin's timber voice eerily soft.

Levi looked away.

"It doesn't matter Erwin. Kenny and I had past issues. We're dealing with them. That's it." Levi responded, looking back down at his abdomen finishing up tying the knots.

Erwin stayed silent. Then he turned on his heels to leave the room. But before he walked out he turned around.

"Captain Levi, I'd like to see you in my office. Immediately. That is an order." He then closed the door behind him firmly. The sounds of his footfalls died out.

Levi's head snapped up and he scowled. Throwing the rest of the bloodied gauze down on the bed. He grabbed his shirt and marched angrily out of the infirmary, recruits' eyes following his steps.

Today was turning out to be extremely shitty.

* * *

Levi marched into Erwin's room without knocking. Erwin was waiting for him, sitting behind his desk.

"Sit down Levi. We need to talk."

Levi said nothing as he sat himself down on a chair in front of Erwin's desk. He looked very tired.

"What do you want Erwin?" Levi asked again, this time without the bite. Levi still hadn't fully gotten his voice back from the flu. Hell, he hadn't even really rested and was still in the throws of the fever, and then this happened.

Erwin's gaze soften, just a bit.

"How are you feeling Levi?"

Levi tiredly rubbed his face. He was hunched over elbows resting on his thighs.

"Like shit Erwin." he responded candidly.

There was silence between them for a bit as Erwin carefully considered how to continue.

"Levi, how long have you known Kenny?" Erwin knew it was a risk diving in so fast, but he was curious.

Levi glanced up at him obviously thrown by the question.

"Since I was ten." Levi responded curtly. This was obviously a topic he did not want to broach. Erwin would have to be careful.

"Is he family?" Erwin asked

Levi looked at him, disgust clear on his face.

"I am not related to that bastard." Levi spit out.

"Look Erwin. I have secrets, you know I do, but you're just going to have to deal with it because I buried them for a reason. I have no intention of digging them up again." With that Levi stood and began to make his way to the door.

"I haven't dismissed you yet Captain." Erwin stated softly.

Levi froze. His fists clenched and he went rigid. He turned around to face Erwin, scowling vehemently.

"May I be dismissed, sir?" Levi spat, making the 'sir' sound more like a curse than anything.

"Join me for dinner tonight Captain. This conversation is not over." Erwin stood up and began shuffling papers.

Levi glared.

"Fine."

And with that he stormed out of the room.

* * *

It was nearly dinner time when Levi emerged from the library. He had gone there to find peace, and since he couldn't retreat to his office, it was the next best thing.

"So you made it out alive? Good job brat."

Levi froze. From the darkened hallway he made out the silhouette of Kenny walking slowly towards him.

Levi stared at Kenny's figure as he slowly loomed closer and closer. His eyes slightly unfocused. Kenny arrived in front of Levi, not making a sound. Something was off. He leaned in to peer at Levi's face, and then smiled. It was a ragged smile and the laugh that followed it was just as ragged.

"So you did learn something during that mission after all." Kenny laughed some more and then laid a rough hand on Levi's shoulder as he was passing him.

"I'll see you later brat."

And with that Kenny walked off towards the dark. Levi took a deep breath and continued walking on towards the mess hall.

When he arrived the mess hall's noise lulled for a moment before picking up it's usual volume. He easily found Erwin in the back, even in a room full of recruits he commanded an aura of respect. Erwin smiled as Levi approached, but once he was near enough, he could tell, something was wrong.

"Are you feeling alright Levi?" Erwin asked concernedly.

Levi looked at him eyes slightly unfocused. He looked like shit.

"I feel like shit Erwin. I told you before." Levi snapped.

Erwin accepted that answer and moved on.

* * *

Dinner had been low key with Levi not really eating much. He had excused himself early, telling Erwin that he had to get ready for his class. Erwin had let him go since it was his last class of the day and since he knew that arguing with Levi would make it worse for the recruits who were in that class.

Levi went off without another word.

Erwin didn't know what it was, but something about how Levi was moving was different than normal. Levi's gait was normally fluid, strong and alert. But as he watched Levi leave he could have sworn that Levi had nearly stumbled over his own feet.

Erwin rubbed his eyes. Maybe he should head to bed early tonight, he thought.

* * *

Levi had taken the long way to the lecture hall. He needed to catch his breath. Something was wrong. He felt as though the world was spinning. He leaned on one of the building's walls for a couple of minutes until it got better. The cold air helped with the nausea.

When he arrived at the lecture hall he could see that all of the recruits were there, but Kenny was no where to be found. He hung back as he heard his name come up.

"Humanity's Strongest? Please. Did you see his eyes when Mr. Ackerman made him talk. He's scared of that old man." One recruit said.

Another one replied, "I wonder what happened between the two. They seem to know each other pretty well..."

Levi had heard enough. He stepped out of the shadows so that he was behind the second recruit.

"That's for me to know and for you to get your fucking nose out of." Levi hissed. The recruit jumped, obviously surprised.

"Captain. I...How are... My apologies." The recruit stammered as he quickly saluted Levi.

Just then Kenny appeared seemingly out of no where to stand on the stage leaning against the podium.

"You've lost your touch brat. I trained you better than that." His voice was not loud, but it carried through the hall. The recruits scurried to their seats. Levi glared daggers.

"Well Captain, I'm glad you made it well enough to join us today." Kenny stated mockingly.

"I didn't think you'd be able to get up, never mind being able walk straight ."

Levi's hands clenched, but he stayed quiet.

"Today's lesson will be short." Kenny assessed Levi with a curious glint in his eye. "Not really much of a lesson either. I just thought that you'd all want a break from all this seriousness. And I don't think our good Captain here is really up for much today." Kenny came to stand behind Levi and placed both hands on his shoulders.

"It's more of a game than anything else. We'll be going outside today."

With that Kenny released his hold on Levi and gestured to the recruits to make their way towards the training grounds.

"Come on then. Get moving." Kenny barked at Levi.

Levi could only groan as he dragged himself outside.

* * *

"The rules are simple." He told them as he handed out the ammo.

"These are called 'paint ball guns'." They were popular back in the old world, not much anymore.

There were 5 groups of 6 with one group of four. Each team had a color; red, blue, green, yellow, white, and purple. The recruits struggled to load the ammo into their guns as Kenny continued on.

"The goal of this game is to make sure that you don't get hit by another team's color. Got it?"

The recruits responded with a positive.

"The first team to find the flag wins. If you get hit on the heart or the head, you are dead. Just lay on the ground until the game is over. If you happen to get hit on the legs, the arms or the abdomen, assumed that you are bleeding out. You can ask a teammate to help you get to safety. The 'safe zone' is going to be once you cross the threshold of the lecture hall building. If you can't make it in under 10 minutes, you are dead."

The recruits listened with rapt attention.

"Captain Levi and I will be watching and we will know who has died, so don't bother faking. You'll know when you've been hit."

With that Kenny let the recruits go into their individual teams so that a battle plan could be made.

"I assume you know what position you'll be taking." Kenny stated looking down at Levi.

Levi grumbled, but nodded an affirmative yes.

Kenny tossed Levi a duffle bag. "I thought it would serve you well. No one has used it since." Kenny lit a cigarette.

"As for me I'll be watching the perimeter." and he walked off.

* * *

Levi crouched down and placed the bag on the floor. He was picking back up from where he left off years back. With practiced hands he unzipped the bag and took out the pieces. Fitting the black leather gloves on his hands he began his work putting his gun back together.

Levi smiled slightly as his body picked up on what his mind had forgotten. How many countless times did he assemble and disassemble this gun under Kenny's critical stare. Blindfolded, not blindfolded, eyes opened and closed. But it was different this time around. His hands shook slightly making it difficult to piece together the gun as smoothly as he wanted to.

"Focus!" He reprimanded himself as he took a deep breath of the icy air.

When he was done he snapped in his ammo and walked off towards where Kenny was standing.

"When are we starting?" Levi asked gun loosely held in his hand by his side. By the light of the moon, his rolled up sleeves, black gloves, and confident manner made him seem years younger, almost like he was 19 again.

_It was 02:00 hours. Levi was nervous. Making his way up the ladder of the powerful mobsters in the underground brought him to many a different job. He had done almost every kind of job there was except for prostituting. He drew the line there. Except for that one time... But that was for a mission. He shook his head to chase the thoughts away. He needed to focus. Of all the jobs he had done, including the ones under Kenny, this would be the 3rd assassination. He normally didn't kill people when he was under Kenny's care, he didn't want to have to clean up the mess. He was more used to just quietly knocking them out of beating them to a pulp. But sometimes things got out of hand, and orders were orders. His target was a greying man, filthy rich filthy just in general. He ran all sorts of illicit business endeavors from loan sharking to human trafficking. "He's become too much of a competition." His boss had said. "I just need his body in a body bag somewhere no one will find. _

_Levi had waited and waited. He had stalked his prey for a month to really get his schedule. He wanted this to be clean. One bullet to the head and a body bag to burn. He had returned to his boss victorious, eyes dark as he was handed the reward."_

Kenny called all of the recruits and ordered them to various position.

"On my mark. Get set. Go!" Kenny fired a shot into the air and then pandamonium opened up in front of him.

The ones who had no clue of how to use a gun ran away while the ones who seemed to have grasped the concept eagerly began shooting at no one in particular, just hoping for a hit. After 10 minutes 7 had died and 4 had been dragged over to the lecture hall. Then a blood curdling yell. The team members of the person who had yelled ran into the denser part of the training ground and found their teammate crawled into a ball clutching at her head.

"It...it just came out of nowhere..."

and then 4 shots went off in perfect sequence. Four more pretended to play dead.

After an hour there was only 2 teams left. One was missing 3 and the other one had only one more member alive. They were terrified. They had heard the screams of the other recruits as they 'died' but couldn't tell who or where the shooter was. What they also didn't know what they they were being shepherded into the densest part of the training ground. Almost no light penetrated through the tree tops and they were in very near pitch black darkness.

"What was that?" One recruit asked suddenly, surprised by a soft whooshing of wind near his head. He was grabbed roughly by the legs, tripped and then shot in the heart. He didn't even have time to yell. The other four went down similarly, but the shooter had spaced out the shots so that the last one alive was desperately trying to find his way out towards where he could see for a good ten minutes. He had stopped to take a breath from running haphazardly around, looked up and saw a figure before he was shot point blank in the leg. The scary thing was that he knew no one on his team or anyone for that matter was still alive. He passed out after a while due to shock.

* * *

After Kenny had ordered another recruit to take the one who passed out to the infirmary he ordered all of the recruits back into the lecture hall. Levi followed, gun still in hand. He seemed a little bit wobbly.

When all of them settled down Kenny motioned for Levi to come to the front and tell them what exactly had happened. Levi strode down to the front, head bowed breathing deeply. When he reached the podium he stood for a moment and took a deep breath.

"You all were told that you had a mission. You had to rescue a flag before any of the other teams took it for themselves whilst watching out for other teams' fire. You all forgot one crucial thing. Ackerman never showed you the flag. You never saw it with your own eyes. You had no idea how it looked like, and no idea where it was at. He sent you all on a chase to find a 'thing'. Meanwhile, you all took your time devising an attack plan. You were looking for other teams' fire and a way to fire on them yourselves. You never thought about any other external... 'issues'. If this were real life and you all were hired muscle sent by whoever to get something, you all would be dead. Look around. What is one thing you all have in common right at this instant?" Levi stood up straight and crossed his arms against his chest. There was semi chaos as the recruits turned to one another to desperately find what connected them all together. What could 34 people possibly have in common?!

Levi lazily leaned onto the side of the podium, suddenly extremely sleepy.

"You've all been hit by an extra player."

The recruits looked around and found that everyone had indeed been hit by black paint. It contrasted starkly against their light colored uniforms.

"But sir! What How did the ones in the safe zone also get hit?

Levi responded lazily.

"The extra player didn't care about 'safety zones'." He shrugged.

"In real life, the ones who weren't hit can jeopardize entire missions for the 'extra player'. You can imagine yourself as soldiers working to find whatever you were assigned to find. Most of the time the higher ups won't tell you what the fuck it is they want, so you just go with it. Annoying little shits.." Levi's nose wrinkled in disgust. He schooled his face back into a neutral and continued on. "So, you all would go in not knowing what exactly it is you're supposed to find and you would encounter rival groups who are also trying to find what you are. Most likely they'll have more info to go off of. There would of course be a brawl, these mobster types aren't one for secrecy and clandestine actions. You would lose men while fighting and carrying injured teammates to safety. But most likely, if the 'thing' you are all trying to find is rather valuable, there will always be an 'extra player'. They would work secretly, most of them assassins by trade. They would systematically wipe out the soldiers first seeing as they are the ones who are willing to fight clean. And then they would murder all of the other mobsters in the area. They wouldn't leave the injured to live. That would be too much of a gamble. Everyone who was there and saw the fight would have to go. And then the 'extra player' would find the object and disappear leaving only your mangled bodies as a sign that anything had actually happened. No one would know the exact details seeing as everyone involved would be dead."

By the end of his lecture Levi had a far away look in his eyes and a slight smile on his lips. He seemed... Oddly serene... A bit like he was drifting off.

Kenny cleared his throat and Levi quickly stood up straight and dismissed the recruits in a flat tone of voice.

* * *

It seemed that the jolt Kenny had given him had done more bad than good. He leaned heavily on the podium taking deep breaths to calm his overly thudding heart. By the time the last recruit filed out Levi was on the ground, slumped over leaning against the podium. It seemed that he had tried to leave too, but was suddenly overcome with dizziness.

Kenny tisked at Levi and nudged him with the tip of his steel toed boots.

"Oi brat. I think you might have overdosed." Kenny stated conversationally.

"I thought you'd learned. You were with them for over two weeks."

Levi moaned in pain grasping at his head.

"Shut up... "

His head fell back to hit the podium.

Kenny sighed, took a look around and decided. He hoisted Levi up and slung his arm around his own shoulder and began to make his way towards Levi's office.

Arriving Kenny opened the door quietly and dragged Levi the rest of the way and laid him down on the sofa off to the side of the room.

* * *

Levi was too far gone to feel the prick of a needle entering his arm. He didn't hear Kenny take his leave, and he certainly had no idea how fucked the rest of the week was going to be.

* * *

Ooooo, Levi, using heroine... As you may have noticed, I am not exactly privy to the know how of making heroine... And Erwin definitely knows something is up. The recruits now know that Levi trained under Kenny, and Levi is going to have a really bad rest of the first week... Oh dear!

Please R&R!


	8. Roads Diverged

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

Hello everyone!

I hope you like this chapter :) Things are about to become so much more tense...

* * *

Erwin considered himself a patient man. He wasn't one to fuss or get overly angry when someone or something was late. He was rather flexible in his schedule. Working around Titan attacks forced him to be. As he rose to power he was liked by most of the recruit under his care because of this patience. He had never once lost his cool because a recruit didn't do something on time. He would tell them in a level, strong voice that he expects them to try a little bit harder the next time, but never yelled. It did nothing but cause trouble in his opinion. So when the next morning arrived the recruits were surprised and a little scared to find Erwin on the brink of losing his cool. After he had sent a recruit to fetch Levi he made his way to his office to await the party of MPs that were coming. The meeting was scheduled to see how the pair, Levi and Ackerman, worked together for the first week. They were curious too, and he didn't blame them. With Levi's volatile nature and Kenny's near psychotic sense of humor they wanted to know how everything was going. Or not going if their hunches served to be correct. The recruit knocked rapidly and nearly collapsed into Erwin's office in his hurry to get in.

"Commander! I've looked everywhere sir, but I can't find Captain Levi. He seems to be missing sir." The recruit attempted to catch his breath.

From behind his desk Erwin furrowed his brows. It wasn't like Levi to be this late. He usually liked being in the room before the guests arrived . Erwin's brow furthered even further. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Levi anywhere this morning. Normally they would have coffee together before running through a few stacks of paperwork and Levi would go his own way to watch over the recruits as they started their training for the day. He had thought that Levi had just decided to sleep in with his fever and all.

Something was amiss...

He then called 5 more recruits plus the original one to search the entire camp. There was no reason why Levi would have left the camp without telling him. A small tendril of worry creeped up his spine. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Ackerman all day either...

"Oh shit." Erwin thought as he leaned back in his chair. He could tell that this day was not going to be as easy as he thought it was going to be.

* * *

The recruits returned back to relay the information. Levi really was nowhere to be found. They had searched high and low. Everywhere that is, but in his office. The recruits told him that Ackerman told them that Levi's office was currently off bounds because that would be where he was making the lesson plans and so such.

Erwin's eyes widened.

"You've seen Ackerman?" He asked doubtfully. "And he told you that you all weren't allowed in Levi's office?"

The recruits nodded.

Erwin rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath.

After he released them back to their training he made for the door. He had an inkling that something was going on in Levi's office and that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good. He never made it out the door.

- Knock, knock, knock-

Erwin hissed in annoyance, schooled his face into a neutral expression and opened the door.

* * *

"Ah, Erwin. Good to see you" Dok held out a hand which Erwin shook.

"Please, come in. Levi is currently dealing with something, so he will probably join us later." Erwin was lying through his teeth. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be seeing Levi until the meeting was over.

Dok was followed by 5 more MPs and Pixis himself who casually wandered over to the window to watch the recruits train.

"If you all would take a seat." Erwin lead them over to the long oval table that stood towards the side of the room.

"So, how are they?" Pixis asked without further chitchat.

Erwin took a deep breath. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

Nearly two hours had passed and still no sign of Levi. Dok and the rest of the MPs were getting restless.

"Where is he Erwin? We've been here for two hours now and neither of them have showed up!"

Before he could answer Pixis cut in.

"Now now, I'm sure Levi had a good reason. After all, you know how much he likes these meetings." His expression open and friendly.

Erwin and the MPs grimaced. Levi had a tendency to return to his more violent ways when he was forced to sit in a long meeting such as this one. His mouth spewing word that would get continuously more vulgar as the minutes passed by.

"How about we come back in a week?" Pixis recommended.

No one could argue. So with that the Mps took their leave.

"Erwin. I do hope you find Levi and tell him that I expect him to be in the next meeting." Pixis stated pleasantly while his eyes flashed dangerously.

"Yes sir!" Erwin scrambled to salute him as he walked calmly out the door shutting it softly behind him.

Levi was going to be in a hell of trouble when Erwin got his hands on him.

* * *

Ackerman had cancelled the first 2 classes of the day, Erwin heard from a recruit.

"He just told us that we were dismissed to do whatever for the remainder of the class sir." The recruit replied to Erwin's arched brow. Erwin dismissed the recruit and returned back to his office. He had meant to go to Levi's office after the meeting had ended, but Hanji had entered with a pile of paperwork that needed to be signed and sent out that day, so the reined in his curiosity and got to signing the hundreds of papers. He had to keep to his duties as a commander after all.

He decided to break for dinner and actually eat at the mess hall with the rest of the recruits. Maybe he would catch a glimpse of Ackerman, or even better, Levi.

He sat down with his food and began eating when he felt a presence from across the table. He looked up to find none other than Ackerman staring down at him.

"Commander" he said in his loud brash voice "I think it might be of interest to you to join me for the last class." There was a wicked glint in his eyes.

"Why wou-"

"I assure you Commander, you'll definitely want to be there."

And with that he spun sharply on his heels and marched off.

Erwin was left feeling extremely concerned.

* * *

He had decided to finish up the pile of paper work before heading off to the class. The weather hadn't lightened up at all. In fact, it had gotten even colder with ice forming on the puddles that were created by the previous rain/ sleet storm. Coupled with the moonless dark of that night he began to feel a little more than concerned. Tendrils of worry wrapped themselves around his stomach.

He paused and composed himself before entering the building and making his way up to the room.

When he opened the door his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He stood gaping at the scene in front of him. Frozen. Until he heard a cough near the podium.

"Shocking isn't it Commander? I assure you that the lesson will be all the more interesting this way. You may even learn a thing or two."

* * *

The recruits filed in little by little, loud conversations hushed by the sight in front of them. When everyone was seated Ackerman began to speak.

"Today's lesson is a very important one. You all are going to learn how to properly carry out an interrogation

"But sir, why is-".

The recruit was silenced by Ackerman's glare.

"Now, as you can see, Captain Levi had volunteered out of the goodness of his heart to be interrogated." He walked over to the chair that Levi was currently occupying.

His hands had been tied to the back of the chair and he was slumped over unconscious, it looked rather uncomfortable. It was a sight to see. Levi's hair was ruffled and his clothes were rumpled. He looked like a mess.

Ackerman crouched down so that he was relatively eye level with Levi before he spoke again.

"Oi, brat, wake up." He tapped Levi none too gently on the face.

Levi groaned. His head lolled around before he was able to raise it. He squinted his eyes against the sudden harsh light and let out another pained groan.

Erwin sucked in a breath. Once Levi had lifted his head he could see the full extent of his injuries. Levi looked like shit. His face was a sickly pale color and his eyes looked unfocused. He had a bruise forming on his right cheek and there was blood oozing slowly out of a cut on the upper left side of his forehead.

Levi's head lolled back before he righted himself and settled his glare on Ackerman.

"Good for you to join us Captain, and thanks for volunteering for this. I'm sure the recruits feel the love.

"Didn't give me much of a choice did you?" Levi rasped out. His voice sounded hoarse either from disuse or dehydration.

"As I said before, you all are going to learn the proper way of interrogating someone."

Levi picked his head back up and glared at Ackerman. But something was different. Levi was on edge. His posture tensed and he froze. Ackerman turned to look at Levi.

"Too many people believe that the only way to coax information out of a person is through violence. I'm here to tell you that that is completely utter bullshit. Most of the time the person getting interrogated will sustain a head injury during the interrogation and won't be able to be much use. Lots of times they die before they could be interrogated again. Stupid really. Some of you believe that you can coax information by being nice. That only works sometimes and in certain lines of work 'sometimes' isn't enough." Ackerman walked lazily back to the podium.

Ackerman turned his head towards Levi and smirked. Many of you believe that there is a way to carry out a proper interrogation. One that follows protocol and laws. I'm a firm believer in rules, I really am" Ackerman's smirk said it all.

"But there are times where one must forgo certain protocols and treat rules like guidelines." He stopped to let his words sink in. From the back Erwin frown a little bit. He had a bad feeling about this...

* * *

Ackerman had to shake Levi back awake.

"What's your name?" He barked.

Levi blinked owlishly.

"My...My name is... Levi?" The last part had come out more as a question than an answer.

"Okay Levi. How old are you?"

Levi looked tilted his head to one side.

"I don't know. I don't keep track of that type of shit."

Ackerman nodded.

"What do you hate the most."

The response was quick.

"You."

Ackerman turned to face the class.

"I need questions." He stated.

No one moved.

"No volunteers? Okay then..." He looked around the room before his gaze settled on Erwin.

"Commander, do you have any questions? Anything that only Levi would know?"

Erwin looked uncomfortable. He paused for a second before coming to a question.

"How did I recruit you?"

Ackerman turned to Levi, a very solemn looking Levi.

He had looked up in surprise when he heard Ackerman call out to Erwin. Suddenly he felt the full implications of Ackerman's actions, and the knot in his stomach grew.

Ackerman waved his hands in front of Levi's face to bring him back.

Levi's eyes began to glaze over as he fought the urge to answer.

On the outside he looked calm and collected if not a little solemn. Meanwhile, his brain screamed at him to stop, or the other way around. He wasn't really sure, and it didn't matter.

Levi opened his mouth to speak but promptly shut it, still struggling to stop.

"He gave me a choice." Levi rasped out curtly.

Ackerman waited for a little while to see whether he would elaborate.

When Levi didn't answer Ackerman nudged him. And when Levi didn't answer again he crouched so that he was eye level with Levi again.

"Hey" he said while trying to catch Levi's eye which was looking everywhere but him. He suddenly caught a fistfull of Levi's hair, to which Levi finally looked at him.

"I know you know more than that Captain. So why don't you try harder." Ackerman cooed. It was slightly unnerving.

Levi looked back at him with slight confusion on his face, his eyes still glossed over.

"I-I-I can't..."

"Why not?" Ackerman's voice sounded oddly gentle and patient."

"Because" Levi stated with a solemn finality "I've promised Pixis I won't tell."

Ackerman smirked.

"Oh but Levi, Pixis told you we need to work as a team and if we're going to do that we need to not have so many secrets between us..."

The recruits began to get an inkling of what Ackerman was doing. Goading Levi gently. They weren't getting the full picture but they still had something.

Erwin on the other hand understood. He understood and he had no idea what to do. He should stop this. He really should, but he couldn't. He wasn't allowed to interfere with what Ackerman did. Pixis had told him privately that he was to let Ackerman teach as he saw fit.

But this wasn't it was it?

"I... I got caught during a hit. Five shots and an explosion to take care of the rest... Erwin and a few of the Survey Corp were roped into helping the MPs with an illegal arms dealing problem and I made a stupid mistake. I should have just taken the land route back but I decided on 3DMGing. I was caught. Erwin took me to Pixis and he gave me a choice. Join or rot in a cell." Levi's eyes looked darker than normal as he recalled these memories. Bad memories of a past that he'd been trying to forget for too long.

"I see." Ackerman said looking extremely pleased.

"What happened during the time you were under my care?"

All the eyes suddenly widened a bit more, postures straightened, and Erwin shifted in his seat. This was something that Levi hadn't even told him.

Levi looked at Ackerman. "Wouldn't you know?"

His eyes seemed a little more clear and focused.

Ackerman's face was blank and unreadable.

"Levi. I need you to remember. Listen to me okay? Breath. In and out. Remember."

Ackerman's voice had taken on a more soothing hypnotic note to it.

Levi's eyes fluttered.

"You stole me."

The recruits were all ears and wide eyes.

"And then you trained me. Assassination, theft, forgery, fighting... So many things to learn... Hellish training hours."

Levi was rambling at this point.

Ackerman ruffled Levi's hair almost fondly.

"Glad I drilled it into your mind."

* * *

The questions went on until Levi was clear headed enough to retort back in his sarcastic way. The recruits were still trying to digest the information that was presented to them. Their Captain, 'Humanity's Strongest' used to be a crook. Not just a crook either. He was a killing machine. He was... so so much more scary now...

Ackerman had untied Levi and left him to rub at his arms to circulate blood. Levi wasn't angry though. Or at least the recruits thought. No, he looked much much more... Tired? He looked haunted. He had every right to be. Memories he buried on purpose had been dug up and paraded around. He wasn't that man anymore.. Was he?

Erwin looked pensive.

Then Ackerman stood back at the podium.

"That is how to properly execute an interrogation. You don't do the whole beat up your person. You drug them."

"But sir! That's illegal!"

"I prefer to think of laws more as.. guidelines. Gets stuff done faster doesn't it?"

Levi snorted.

Ackerman glanced over at Levi and back towards the recruits.

"If you follow the law you can't even touch them and then the only way you'd get what you want is if the person is scared of you. Unfortunately there comes a time when you'll need information out of someone who isn't at all scared of you."

"So what do you do then sir?" A voice called out

Ackerman stopped and glanced over at Levi again.

"You either become the scariest thing."

"Or you scare them another way." Levi finished, rubbing his face tiredly.

"You give them a reason to be scared of you. Their life normally does the trick. A knife to the thigh or a near drowning. Just close enough to death that you'll get what you want and then they'll be gone after that."

The recruits gulped.

Erwin made eye contact.

Blood lust. That's what he saw.

* * *

Please please pleaseeeeeee Read and Comment :)


	9. Where's Your Heart?

Hello all! Sorry for not updating sooner~ I'm shooting for next Saturday to update the next chapter, so keep a lookout!

Anywho, the title of this chapter is inspired by the song I was listening to while writing it

**Famous Last Words - MCR **

I hope you like! :)

* * *

It had been nine days since Ackerman had arrived. nine days since he had had any semblance of peace and order. After the last class the recruits couldn't be calmed. Whispers and rumors spread like wildfire.

"Who exactly was Ackerman?"

"Who exactly was Levi?"

"Was he still dangerous?"

"Has he killed anyone?"

"Why did he choose to serve?"

Erwin had already assigned overtime work and training to all of the recruits to try and tire them out, but it was to no avail. They could not be silenced.

It also didn't help that Levi was hiding.

Literally. Figuratively...

He could feel it.

Levi wasn't an easy person to analyze, but he had known him for too long. Levi was definitely hiding something, and Erwin was hellbent on finding out what it was.

* * *

Levi had taken to hiding (working as he called it) all day in his office. Erwin knew because he had sent multiple of recruits to go see if they could coax him out. He was on his 14 recruit before he decided to take it upon himself to go make a personal visit.

This was getting ridiculous.

* * *

.Knock.

Silence.

He tried the door, and to his, not surprise, it was locked.

He knocked (banged) on the door once more.

Nothing.

"I swear to Sina Levi, if you don't open this door I'll just break it down."

Passing recruits were beginning to stare. Not that he cared. He would be damned if didn't get to talk to his Captain.

He raised his hand once more to knock(bang) on the door, but he was deterred when the door soundlessly opened to reveal a _very _tired looking Levi.

There were those hazy eyes again...

Erwin attempted to peer into the room without being too conspicuous, but Levi had only opened the door a small crack and looked more and more like he was ready to slam it in his face.

"Can I come in Levi?" He asked cautiously, every nerve screaming that something was wrong.

Levi continued to stare.

And stare.

And stare.

And stare.

Silence...

It was as though he wasn't really looking at him at all.

He cleared his throat, and as he suspected, Levi's eyes refocused and he really began to stare at Erwin.

"What do you want Erwin?"

Something was definitely amiss...

"Can I...come in?" He asked again, even more hesitantly than before.

Levi gave him a long look before he stepped aside.

Erwin couldn't help but stop in his tracks and gape.

The place was a mess!

Papers and files covered Levi's desk and parts of the floor. Pictures and papers intertwined one on top of another in an attempt to cover as much floor as possible. It had seemed that Levi had decided to just shove everything off of his table to make room for the papers and files. Parts of the floor were black due to the toppled over jar of ink. The normally precisely placed sofa was pushed up against the wall under what seemed to be pictures of unknown people connected by red string to other scraps of papers which in turn seemed to be connected to some other snippet.

There were cups strewn about the coffee table and some shattered in pieces all around the floor.

Erwin didn't know what to do.

"Are you feeling alright Levi?" He asked as nonchalantly as he could.

"Why do you ask?" Levi snapped back. His voice sounded oddly rough, but he couldn't place what was wrong.

He held up his hands in a sign of peace.

"Just...Just wondering. You look tired."

"I'm fine."

Erwin sighed.

"Levi, you haven't been to class in three days and you've been absent for every single meeting Pixis and Dok have called.

His anger jumped up a notch when he realized that Levi wasn't even looking at him. He was looking slightly to his right. To the door. That he had left open. Oh...

Levi looked extremely bemused.

He turned around slowly to find four recruits at the door looking extremely uncomfortable.

"What is it?" Levi barked.

"Ummm...Captain Ackerman wants to see you sir. He's very insistent that you come at once."

Levi stiffened.

"You can tell him that I'm busy." He ground out.

The recruits shuffled awkwardly.

"He told us not to return without y-"

"You're dismissed." He ground out, even more threateningly than normal.

"And you" he focused his attention to Erwin. "Close the goddamned door or get out."

Erwin could feel the ice Levi's voice. He took a moment to compose himself and went to close the door. Gently. Definitely gently because he was a Commander damn it and he wouldn't be thrown off by this.

SLAM!

Or maybe not...

He whirled around, anger suddenly gripping him. He marched over to the small tired figure of his captain, picked him up by his ruffled shirt collars, and brought him up to eye level, which considering the height difference, was rather high up.

"I don't know what you've been doing or what you're hiding from me Levi, but I will find out eventually, so why don't you just tell me now and save us both the trouble." He hissed.

"I can't." Levi responded deadpanned.

"Excuse me?" Erwin spluttered.

" ' .You." He replied just as deadpanned as the previous response.

"Why the hell not?" His voice was getting louder and louder...

Levi hung limply while hanging on to Erwin's forearms to keep himself up.

"Because it's none of your fucking business." Levi replied curtly , irritation becoming evident.

They glared at each other in silent tension before Erwin deflated and let go of his hold on Levi's collar.

Levi in turn landed lightly, if not just a bit wobbly, brushed himself off, crossed his arms and stated at Erwin.

Definitely ruffled.

"Do you not trust me?" Erwin asked in a steady voice.

"Of course that's what he asks..." Levi thought.

"I don't trust anyone, you of all people should know. Stop asking stupid questions." It had come out harsher than he had intended.

Erwin stiffened.

"I see." His voice dangerously soft.

He gave Levi one last long look before he turned on his heels and marched out.

Levi just stood his ground and watched Erwin's back become smaller and smaller as he left.

Breath in. Breath out.

He shut the door with a slight click and sank down leaning on the door.

For the recruits. For Erwin... He repeated the mantra over and over. He got back up slowly took one last deep breath before he returned to studying the pictures and papers.

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed!

R&R Please :D


	10. Edge of the Unknown

Hello all! Sorry for the wait~

Unfortunately/fortunately this chapter will be short, but I promise to make the next one long!

Also, I dunno why but recently all of the chapter titles I've been thinking of have been snippets from songs I listen to while writing.

This one is **Iridescent - Linkin Park **I do love them so :)

Anywho. Onwards and outwards!

* * *

Levi emerged from his office two days after Erwin last visited him. He wore a rather smug expression on his face. This alone was a source of worry for all of the recruits he had surprised during that day's class. Even Ackerman looked slightly shifty. The recruits were working on hand to hand combat that day, and much to Levi's chagrin, the sparring match between the pair had yet to be forgotten by the recruits. Many of them stood around anticipating a fight to break out any moment. But they dispersed immediately when Levi and Ackerman gave them all extra laps.

* * *

"You look like you just made a successful hit. You're too easily readable." Ackerman tisked as he shot a sidelong glance at Levi.

Levi scowled.

"I've got it." He continued on, his face smoothing itself out into a cryptically unreadable blank face.

Ackerman arched his brow.

"Twenty five. I've found my twenty five." He looked oddly thoughtful.

"Have you now?" A note of surprise entered Ackerman's voice. He had focused his attention back on the group of recruits that were struggling to keep up with their laps.

"How exactly do you intend to leave _Captain_?" He asked with a saccharine sweetness. It was sickening.

Levi smirked.

"That wouldn't be much fun would it? Don't leave a trace. Wasn't that a rule?" He responded back just as sweetly.

The tension grew.

The game was on.

* * *

The rest of the day had gone well with Levi surprisingly joining in on a meeting with Pixis and Dok, both of whom were surprised to see him in one piece.

[if only they knew...]

Neither Levi nor Erwin brought up their last encounter. Both parties choosing to ignore it for the time being.

Not that it was obvious that there was something wrong...

News of Erwin's visit to Levi's office had spread and everyone steered clear when they saw Levi and Erwin in the same area. Both of them feigned indifference to the recruits' fear. Some went as far as to say that they enjoyed the fear they elicited from the poor recruits.

Erwin was damned sure that Levi did anyways.

* * *

To say that the week had been easy would have been a blatant lie. Everyone had been in some way met with a surprise. Good and bad. Water pipes had decided to thaw during the coldest day of the week, but everyone was still expected to practice with Ackerman outside. In the freezing cold weather. Things were definitely split into good and bad.

But, of all of the people who had gotten the most surprised, Erwin had by far succeeded in beating everyone.

Surprise after surprise had been piled on him, not all bad and not all good.

Erwin had realized early on that Levi was the source of these surprises and he was none too pleased.

But of all of the Levi - esque surprises, it was Levi's eyes that surprised him the most.

It set him on edge.

"Guilt.

He's guilty.

Guilty

guilty

guilty...

But for what?" His mind hissed at him as he tried his hardest to search for the silent answer he knew was there somewhere.

A gnawing feeling in his stomach accompanied his mental debate.

"It can't be. He'd tell you." One side argued.

"But he's Levi, and he's made it clear that he doesn't trust you or anyone else." The other hissed back.

Erwin was at a loss.

He just wanted things to return to what they were.

How had things spiraled this out of control so quickly?

How could he fix it?

But the most pressing question,

was this what Levi wanted all along?

* * *

Please R&R :)


	11. We'll All Go to Hell

Hello all!

I am so so so so sorry for the late update. I know it sounds stupid and a waste of time, but I prefer writing my drafts out by hand and then retyping them because I tend to be able to come up with more ideas that way...

Anywho!~ I hope you enjoy!

PS. The song's title is inspired by the song **Mama - MCR **which I was listening to while writing this :)

* * *

Fate had funny ways of going around. Particularly when it came to one Erwin Smith, who was definitely fed up with a certain Captain and his surprises... But, as fate had it, it seemed that Levi wasn't the only one who was keeping secrets from him. Pixis, the last person on earth Erwin thought he would want to murder also decided to keep a few secrets from Erwin. A rather big secret at that.

He initiated a meeting about an expedition.

The day before the expedition...

Needless to say, Erwin was getting really sick of all of this 'cloak and dagger' shit. This was more Levi's brand of working, not his.

* * *

This aura of pissed offedness carried on with him through the day starting bright and early when he accidentally spooked an innocent recruit who was dropping off pre - expedition notes from Hanji. He really hadn't meant to and felt awful for it later as he slumped farther down in his chair. The recruits all had a healthy amount of respect and admiration for both he and Levi, but they differed in one thing and one thing only. While the recruits were deathly afraid of Levi and his brash demeanor, he scared the recruits a lot less, it was something his was rather proud of.

He didn't mean to scare the recruit.

Oops...

It took him a couple of minutes longer than he would have liked to recover enough composure and to convince himself that it really was okay.

And then of course all of hell broke loose,

Damn it...

* * *

Erwin had decided that a walk was in order to really clear his head.

"It's from being cooped up inside for too long." He told himself.

He just started walking once he exited his office and incidentally arrived at the training grounds where the recruits were practicing the latest self defence they had been taught.

Recruits stopped and saluted to him as he passed by and he nodded. feeling a bubbling sense of pride built up inside.

Everything was good until he noticed the two Ackermans.

He was still a ways away so he was deaf to their conversation, but looked like they were conspiring, and that never boded well. They just looked so _smug_...

As he approached the recruits snapped to attention and both Ackermans turned to face him with uncanny timing. It threw him off for a moment.

"Levi. Ackerman." He nodded to each one of them.

"Commander." Ackerman said in a tone that only Levi knew was mocking.

"Erwin. Getting bored are we?"

Erwin flashed a tight smile.

"Something like that. Just curious as to how everything was going."

"Hmmmm.." Levi responded offhandedly, already turned back to watch the recruits.

* * *

A recruit came running towards them after half an hour. All three turned on the recruit.

"Commander Erwin sir! You're requested in your office. Commander Pixis is asking for you."

He turned to Levi. "You too captain."

Levi sighed irritably and turned to glare at Erwin

"Did you know he was coming?"

Erwin stared back looking confused.

"I didn't think he would be here personally..."

He turned on his heel and marched hurriedly towards his office. Levi made one last meaningful glance over to Ackerman and followed hastily behind Erwin.

* * *

The meeting had lasted for six straight hours.

Levi was beginning to feel particularly murderous...

But it wasn't all for naught. They had come up with a definite battle plan, allocated new funds, and created new lesson plans for the recruits.

Levi was pretty sure that Pixis, Hanji, and Erwin were doing this on purpose. Dragging the meeting out.

They probably wanted to see how long Levi could go before he snapped.

Forget dragging it out, Levi scowled, Pixis had managed to single handedly undo all of Levi's precisely laid out plan.

"Bastards..." He thought

* * *

Lunch had been rushed for everyone including the recruits, the reason being an impromptu emergency meeting that Erwin initiated.

Levi skipped lunch in favor of retreating to his office for some much needed peace and time to think.

His plan was proceeding as he expected with none being the wiser.

Thank Sina for small victories...

* * *

**The meeting ended up being more of a briefing than anything else. Erwin went over the maps, pointing out the new formations and attack tactics as the recruits listened intently. **

Levi stationed himself in the back as he normally did, staring out of the window while half listening.

As the briefing came to a close Erwin stepped out from behind the podium.

"This is expedition will be a small one in size. I will only be taking at most, 50 recruits. I believe Hanji has posted the list outside the mess hall. You are dismissed."

Gears were turning in Levi's head. Since Pixis had all but stomped on Levi's plan, he needed to figure something out.

"Come on now. Where's plan B?" He berated himself.

Ackerman had come in sometime during the briefing and stood a small distance away from Levi.

To any other recruit it would have seemed that Levi was merely bored from the dead glare and far off look, but Ackerman knew better.

He could sense something was wrong. He could practically smell the uncertainty radiating off of Levi as he quirked an eyebrow up in Levi's direction.

He just scowled back looking away.

"Sir." a recruit called out, effectively freezing thee wave of recruits who were leaving. Levi subconsciously placed the voice as one Armin Arlet.

Erwin turned to face him.

"Arlet. What is it?"

"Out of curiosity sir," The recruits fell absolutely silent. Arelt was a bright guy after all, whatever he was asked ought to be important. Even Levi snapped out of his thoughts.

"Is Captain Levi joining the group later on? He wasn't on any of the formations. I thought it was a mistake but..." He tapered off softly, averting eye contact with Erwin.

Levi felt as though he had been hit by lightening.

All eyes were on Levi now, the recruits with a look of apprehension, Kenny with a look of slight confusion and Erwin, with one of resolve.

He had been left out of an expedition.

Erwin had...

When had he changed the plans?

Levi took a moment to compose himself before he met Erwin's gaze.

"It was no accident Captain Levi was left out. He will not be joining us on this expedition because I thought he needed more time to heal." Erwin responded.

Levi didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Was this Erwin's way of taking revenge?

Fucking Sina, fate was a twisted psycho... Sparing Levi from having to kill innocent recruits while helping him wipe out other not so innocent lives.

He didn't know what came over him, but it was just so damn _funny_.

Laugh.

Laughter.

He was choking...

It bubbled up inside of him and threatened to burst out.

And burst out it did.

It started off small and quiet, barely more than a chuckle. And then it grew and grew until he was outright howling.

He could hear whispers of "sleep deprivation" and "finally broke due to the stress" ripple amongst the wave of recruits only to be silence by Erwin's loud and slightly intimidating voice dismissing them again.

When the last recruit left Erwin made eye contact with Ackerman, a silent plea for help. But Ackerman was just as lost as he was, looking at Levi as though he had grown a second head.

It took Erwin a few moments before he made his way over to where Levi was, and another moment before he placed both hands on Levi's shoulders as though he thought he could ground Levi.

He was right.

Much to his surprise the psychotic laughter cut off abruptly and Levi dropped his head so that his face was veiled by his bangs, expression hidden.

"Levi." Erwin called out

"Levi!" This time with more urgency as he shook Levi rather harshly.

Levi looked up, a rather crazed gleam in his eyes, and a small smile on his lips.

Erwin's eyes widened with surprise and he promptly dropped his head.

Levi reached his hand out to pat the 'wings of freedom' sewn on Erwin's jacket.

"Oh Erwin." He said in a soft but crazed tone. "What have you done?"

* * *

Thank you all for reading! Please please leave a comment, I want to know what you all think!


	12. To Lie

Hello all! :)

I apologize for the late late super late update!

This chapter is really short, but I promise the next one will be longer!~

Ps. I only got to update since stayed home sick :) Hooray for sick days! *achoo.. sniffle..*

* * *

They left quietly in the dead of night with no one being the wiser until the next morning. Levi of course had known. He didn't accompany them to the gate as Erwin had thought he would. Instead he watched them go from the confines of Erwin's office, slinking around in the shadows. He hadn't meant to. He had snuck in for a completely different reason, only to find the small group led by Erwin leaving quietly in a tight formation. He slunk into the shadows when Erwin turned his gaze to the general area where Levi had vacated just seconds prior.

He knew.

Even if he didn't show it, he know that Levi was up to something, and as he rode out towards the gates he prayed to whatever deity was listening that Levi would refrain from doing anything too extreme.

* * *

Levi was hell bent on finding it.

He was absolutely sure that Erwin would have kept it. He was a sentimental bastard after all… But the longer he searched through the room the more desperate he became. He was so sure that Erwin wouldn't have thrown it out. It was too valuable to do so.

For the first few months of Levi joining the Survey Corps he had effectively used it as a means to control Levi and make sure he stayed in line and kept his head down. But as time passed he used it less and less as the trust grew. It had been years since Levi had thought about it, and until that afternoon he had all but forgotten about its existence.

After nearly three hours of searching and re-searching he had all but flipped Erwin's room upside down. The papers that were neatly stacked on the table were now scattered all around the floor. Miscellaneous items had been thrown out of draws and lay in states of moderate to severe damage on the floor. Somewhere along the line Levi had taken a bottle of ink and hurled it at the door, its contents oozing down, pooling at the bottom to look like a puddle of pitch black blood.

He was past being furious. How dare Erwin outsmart him?! He was always _always _supposed to be a step ahead. That's what had kept him alive for so long after all. How dare he, Levi, let his guard down so easily. And for so long?! It was inevitable that something like this would happen, and he let it find him completely unarmed and unprepared.

He was going to kill Erwin.

He froze where he stood, body tensing, eyes widening.

Erwin was going to die and it would be his fault…

Desperation fell to panic as Levi stood rooted where he stood.

"Come on!" He screamed internally as he racked his brain to think of where Erwin would have hidden it. He gave into the restless feeling and rushed back to rummage through the draws he had checked for the nth time.

Midway through rummaging furiously he froze.

He was on to something.

Pieces of his memories were coming back together, still blurry, but it was still _something._

"What was it?!" He concentrated as pieces clicked into place. Seconds ticked by as the room's previous furious movement was replaced by an intense stillness.

"Oh…" Levi's eyes widened.

"Of course!" A triumphant glint in his eyes. He collapsed amongst the piles of scattered things and papers on the floor. He had been running on pure adrenaline for the past few days. His fatigue was finally catching up with him.

Ha.

Hahahahaha!

Oh this was good.

The sudden relief the memory brought upon the strangest high. He couldn't help but to laugh.

It was several minutes before he stopped, but when he did, it wasn't like the last time. This one tapered off quietly as he stood back up and dusted himself off. He took one last look around the room at the mess he had made and left, closing the door quietly behind him.

He hoped that Irwin wouldn't take it personally.

He was trying to save him from being murdered after all…

* * *

Please R&R! I wish to know what you all think!


	13. Paris

Hello All!

I was listening to **Paris **by Epik High (my favorite bands of all time~) Makes more sense in Korean instead of the translation, but still.

* * *

It didn't take long for Levi to pack. Where he was headed, it wouldn't bode well to take much...

In the end he found some old clothes he had packed away and decided to wear those. Going in with his uniform would be too conspicuous even if he was good at not being seen. He didn't need any more problems that he already had. He stepped quietly out of his room a few minutes later clad in considerably darker clothes. He swapped his white pants for a dark black. His shirt was of the same shade, dark and flexible. From the training days, he remembered almost fondly. He fiddled with the hood until he hit something hard in the seam.

Levi smiled. He wouldn't be going back _completely _unarmed he supposed. He made a small rip along the seam and wiggled out the slender object. It wasn't a knife "per say", more a slender strip of metal that was thin enough to bend into different shapes.  
Levi smiled ruefully as he flipped the strip over in his hand.

He remembered when Kenny handed him the strip and patted his shoulder, wishing him luck. He had thought that Kenny was purposefully setting him up to fail.

The crimson droplets were what made him realize how wrong he had been...

Levi had waited until all of the blood had splurted and gurgled its way out of the victim's neck before he pocketed the strip and headed back. Kenny had given him his gun back after that, but he just couldn't come to part with the metal strip. Something akin to sentiment he assumed.

It still shone as bright as it originally had when he had first received it. Stainless steel, Kenny explained. Something of it being popular back in the old world... He pocketed it once more and proceeded to lace up his boots 'combat boots' Kenny called them. Another old world item.

His however were different from the norm. They were lightweight and heavily padded on the soles to allow for landings from a higher height. These stopped barely passed the ankle to allow for more flexible movement. Handy, Levi thought as he gave the laces one final tug before knotting them, for quick jumps and his acrobatic style.

He flipped his hood and melted into the dark.

"Just like the old times" He smirked.

* * *

It took an hour to reach Sina after hitch hiking for five more. By the time Levi reached the underground the sun was rising and the amount of dark he could melt into was shrinking quickly. But the underground was just that, underground. As long as he kept off of the main roads he would be okay. He stuck to the back streets, still filled with mice and a disgusting amount of garbage and sewer runnage. A rather large stream of upper Sina's waste water meandered down, a horrendous brown sludge with a matching horrendous stench. Levi willed himself to continue as his mind screamed at him to turn around and leave. This was somewhere he had never wanted to return to. The constant semi darkness, the disgusting stench that constantly hung in the air, the horrendous feeling of claustrophobia as the roads grew smaller and smaller.

He loathed it.

"For Erwin." He steeled himself and soldiered on.

* * *

He nearly passed the door he was looking for.

"It's been so long..." He thought as he backtracked. The outline was barely visible, just slightly sunken into the grimy wall. This was the part of the underground you couldn't get to unless you knew exacty what you were looking for, and weren't many people as such.

He opened the door and stepped in, blinking as his eyes adjusted.

"So long... Just like old times." He thought, a small smile flitted across his face.

* * *

The pub was lit by candlelight that cast eerie shadows against the walls. He relaxed as he was thrown back into his memories. There was something nostalgic about the pub with its opium filled haze and its secretive clientele. It was the closest thing he could call home.

No one would bother him here.

It was an age old unspoken rule. Regardless of relationships outside of the pub, once you stepped in there would be peace. The pub was something akin to a 'green zone' for the higher up criminals and thugs of the underground. Somewhere they could get a pint of the best stuff that was smuggled out of inner Sina without worrying about having their brains blown was the place where one mob leader could talk to another about possible heists and other conflicts without creating additional body bags.

Honor amongst thieves and all...

But this was Levi. He was a complicated topic in the underground.

On one hand, he was the best. That was undisputed. Ruthless and talented, no one wanted to cross him.

On the other hand, he was a part of the government and they couldn't have one of those snooping around.

A hush spread through the pub as more and more people realized just who it was that stepped through the door. Levi stood his ground head held high, a defiant look in his eyes. He would not cower in front of this crowd. He had faced worse after all...

"Levi Ackerman. He drew out the 'e' in Levi's name.

Levi smirked in response as a familiar face stepped out from behind the bar in the back.

"Or should I call you Captain?" the man chuckled lightheartedly as he slapped Levi on the back. Levi's smirk turned into a grimace. All semblance of secrecy he had attempted to keep was broken.

"Rin." Levi nodded a hello.

"Captain? As in Captain Levi of the Survey Corps?" A voice asked from the back.

"It's a dangerous place to be _Captain._"Levi felt a nerve twitch as he heard the obnoxious sarcasm that was dripping off.

The others quickly averted their eyes and went back to their previous activities. He saw one send a prayer. How ironic...

The man in question turned out to be nothing more than a boy, no older than 19. He was tall for his age, and obviously strong. But Levi could see that he wasn't all that bright.

Rin brought a hand down on Levi's shoulder urging him to ignore the young man. The look that was sent to him obviously conveyed the message, "He's just a stupid boy Levi, young and reckless."

Young and reckless...

Not that it mattered to Levi. Insubordination wouldn't do...

He slipped fluidly out of Rin's grasp and to what it seemed like to everyone else, appeared out of thin air in front of the young man.

"Name?" He asked casually.

He was rewarded with a sneer.

"Why do you care _captain_?" There was the sarcasm again...

A feral smile graced Levi's face before he was suddenly standing in front of the young man. He had managed to somehow force the young man to the ground and on his knees, keeping a strong grip on the boy's hair. The metal strip suddenly on the boy's neck

"I said, . ?"Levi repeated this time with more force.

The boy struggled to get out of Levi's grip.

"Let go of me you psycho! This is illegal! The corps will have you hanged for this!" He blubbered.

Levi merely chuckled, amusement evident on his face.

"And what if," He pressed the strip closer drawing blood. "What if I'm here on personal business? One more nameless body wouldn't hurt." He responded, predatory smile in place.

"M-my name is Anderson!" The boy exclaimed looking terrified. All semblance of confidence was wiped off his face.

"Occupation? Rank?" Levi prompted

"I'm a smuggler, mostly with the MPs. The Hearse and Co. You've probably heard about me." He finished off in a smug tone.

A confused look flitted across Levi's face before he remembered.

Hearse.

An Empty Hearse?

Hearse...

Of course!

Levi twisted the boy's hair so that he turned around and pushed him into the chair he was pulled from.

Anderson floundered about before he calmed down enough to sit correctly in his seat.

"If you make any move against me or try to get away, I will make sure that the next cut will be deeper."

Levi said as he halfheartedly wiped off the blood on the strip.

Anderson nodded stiffly.

"The Hearse and co, they were behind the MPs gear smuggling a few years back." It was more of a statement than a question, but Anderson still nodded.

"You were behind that?" Levi arched a brow

"N-no, the leader was my father at the time. I just started a few months back."

"You all recently stole a whole shipment of arms."

Anderson stiffened."

Levi nodded. "I thought so.." His tone was nonchalant, almost bored.

"You all tried to steal some of the Survey Corps's 3DMG last month. Replaced them with faulty fakes."

Anderson looked like a deer in the headlights.

Levi continued twiddling with the metal strip, twirling it between his fingers.

The nonchalance had taken on a darker edge.

"I - I didn't know it was for the Survey Corps... I was told it was the MPs' " Anderson stuttered as he felt the tension rise.

There was a lull in the conversations as Levi spoke.

"Sixty five." Levi's gaze bore into Anderson making him squirm. It didn't help that Levi's voice had taken on a cold sharp edge.

"W-what?"

"Sixty five recruits died due to faulty 3DMG."

The pub went silent.

"They all pleaded for help before the titans chomped them into bloody pieces."

Levi's eyes looked dead as he remembered.

"Sixty five recruits that I personally trained. Their grapples just gave out."

He tapped the edges of the strip against the table.

Silence...

Hehehe... Anderson chuckled sheepishly.

"Everyone makes mistakes, right?"

He was looking everywhere but at Levi silently begging the other thugs to help him out. Everyone averted his gaze. They knew better than to side against Levi, and for the most part, they understood him.

Levi was silent for a moment, watching Anderson intently before chuckling. He stood placing a hand on the terrified boy's shoulder.

"I suppose accidents do happen." He clapped him on the shoulder once before moving towards the door.

But before he stepped out he stopped.

"You should be careful. Some accidents tend to be lethal.."

With that he stepped out, walking purposefully towards to next stop.

* * *

One down, twenty four to go...

* * *

Why yes, there were shameless references to BBC's Sherlock and Free! Iwatobi Swim Club. :)

Please don't forget to R&R! I wish to know what you all think. Any comments/ideas/advice, all of it!


	14. Brave New World

Hello All! ~ I apologize for the super late update

Onwards!

* * *

The route to the next destination took longer than Levi had anticipated. From the shadows he could tell that it was around mid morning.

This was good, and terribly, terribly bad.

While mid morning gave Levi a crowd to blend in with, it would be harder for him to watch his back.

"Damn Ackerman and his fucking game..." He thought as he disappeared into the growing crowd.

* * *

Levi realized many things as he made his way to his next destination.

First and foremost, he still hated the underground just as much as he had before joining the survey corps. Not only was it physically jarring with its stench and ever present cloud of sickness and filth, it had the peculiar ability to make Levi recall all of the horrid memories he thought he had burned.

He couldn't stop them.

One by one they dragged themselves out of the deep dark abyss he had stuck them in.

He felt them.

One by one digging into the sensitive layers of grey matter, dragging their jagged claws through making their way to the heart.

He was pretty sure that if he didn't get it under control soon he would look down to find the gruesome creatures crawling out of the bloody, jagged hole he was sure they would create.

Such... unclean things.

Levi shuddered.

He shook his head to get rid of the train of thought as he entered into the less populated corner of the open markets. He let his feet guide him as he zoned out.

He was entering dangerous territory...

It wouldn't have been a problem before his survey corp days, but with his official position, he wouldn't be surprised if some of the more paranoid ones decided to keep and eye on him

He'd have to tread carefully from there on out.

* * *

The deeper he got, the shadier the business became.

Word of his presence, it seemed, had already spread towards the more illicit side of Underground Sina. He felt his skin crawl as he noticed the measured stares of the people.

All eyes were on him.

Surprisingly not all of them held hostility. Most of the older ones looked upon him with wary eyes. They were sizing him up, seeing if he was indeed one still not to be messed with.

"Not surprising" Levi thought.

Even he had to admit that this whole situation was peculiar. Most the older ones had been there to see Levi caught by Erwin who was, at the time, rumored to be the next commander of the Survey Corp. They saw the fight, which had taken down a few thugs in the process. most of them knew Farland and Isabella were caught along with him, and now here he was, Captain of the Survey Corps sneaking about in the Underground without Farland or Isabella.

It set them on edge.

Levi marched on.

The whole underground could burn again for all he cared.

Once this whole business with Ackerman was over he would wash his hands of it all, for real this time around.

* * *

I know it's super short :3

I promise I'll update again soon! I have it all written down I just need to transfer it over to the computer!

Hope you all enjoyed. :)


	15. Toxicity

I told you I'd update sooner this time! :)

Hope you all enjoyed.

Ps. The song I was listening to was **Toxicity** - System of a Down

* * *

"Fuck!" Levi swore.

He should have known.

Should have taken the longer route.

"Why didn't..." His thoughts slurred as he was jarred once more, hitting his shoulder against the wall of the narrow street he was running down.

"Go left! No right! No..." He flipped off of the wall, righting himself and proceeded to take the left he had missed.

"What is this?!" He screamed internally.

He had just barely dodged the bullet from the sniper he missed on a nearby roof had been walked past. But it was, he realized, a trap. He felt the dart slam into his thigh as he flew backwards to avoid the bullet. He hadn't even sworn then, he just became confused.

"Kenny?" he thought yanking the dart out.

He attempted to blend back into the shadows.

"Can't be. He's the one who sent me in the first place." He shook his head trying to get rid of the voices.

"He's done this before..." a treacherous voice whispered.

"Shut up!" he screamed internally... or was it? What was it that he had just been thinking about?

Levi was completely thrown.

Whatever coated the dart was new stuff. This wasn't just a run-of-the-mill was too unpredictable.

One moment his mind would be racing, painfully fast. Too fast. Everything else would be going too slow, including himself. His motions became uncoordinated as his body seemed to slow down too much for his brain to handle.

It was nauseating.

And then things would slow down.

Too slow. Everything would begin to blur. Colors and sounds bled into each other. His muscles did their own things in confusion. each step landing too far or too close, jarring him even farther.

He couldn't tell when the changes came.

Switch after switch after switch going from too fast to too slow.

And then everything would even out again.

He had to stop for a couple of moments whenever everything stopped and went back to normal.

His thoughts would scatter and he couldn't remember his last thoughts.

"Damn it." He hissed as the spotted another assassin on the roof of the building near him.

"Who is this?!" His voice sounded far too desperate.

The voice in his head didn't hesitate to respond.

"Someone who obviously wants you dead."

He shook his head violently trying to rid himself of the voice.

He took a breath. He was losing it. Having conversations with himself...

Then, without warning everything stopped.

He felt the very air compress against him and suddenly he saw everything from odd angles.

"Strange..." he thought. "Everything's tilted..."

He made out the smug smirk of the man on the roof and faces rushing towards him.

Everything was blending and blurring at the same time. The light foot stops of the bodies sent painful thuds through his heart. He swore he could hear the silver of the swords.

Everything was red. An angry red.

And steel grey.

He could taste the bitter end of the poison.

From his position on the ground he looked up.

It burned. The dim light felt like hot knives stabbing at him.

"What is this?!" He thought desperately. He couldn't move and he couldn't breath.

"What did he say?" He heard a new voice.

So loud... so sharp...

He felt himself being dragged up by a hand that felt far too hot. Like burning coals.

"Get off!" He tried to say. It came out slurred.

"Just ignore him. We'll deal with him later."

He felt tension. Felt it gripping with its iron strength. Cold as ice.

Levi heard it before he felt it.

The sound of something hard hitting flesh and bone.

A sharp pain and then an explosion of colors and sounds that were far too overwhelming before he slipped into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

"réveillez-vous." Levi felt something tapping at his cheek.

And then all at once his senses returned and he was plunged back into a world of pain. Everything hurt.

He groaned as his head lolled heavily.

"Ou suis - je?" He mumbled, succeeding in picking his head up.

He felt a sudden rush of dejavous. Hands behind the chair. Some type of poison in his system.

"Kenny?" He blurted out before he even registered what he had said.

A rough chuckle sounded from somewhere to Levi's left followed by the sound of a chair scraping against the floor.

"Not quite captain."

Levi picked his head up to glare at the speaker.

SMACK!

His head was propelled sideways, the force making his chair tip precariously. His only saving grace was the hand that shot out to grab his hood and haul him up right once more.

The sudden movement brought out the dormant nausea.

The world was spinning around him. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath to reorient himself.

"It'll pass." The man stated with a hint of amusement.

"What-what was in the dart?" Levi tried and failed to keep his face straight, reclosing his eyes as another wave of nausea hit.

He heard another chair scrape across the floor to come to rest a few inches in front of where he sat.

Levi opened his eyes slowly and cautiously, ready to shut them again if needed.

He felt as though his head were splitting in two!

"Interesting concoction isn't it? I made it myself." The man sounded far too happy for Levi's liking.

For liking so long in the underground he had a certain ability to detect the type of person one was, a skill that saved him on multiple occasions.

This man practically oozed crazy.

Something was just... off about him...

Levi waited silently for him to continue, eyeing him warily.

The man had seated himself on the chair placed in front of him and was peering at Levi, leaning against the chair back, arms piled atop the back, resting his head.

He looked disturbingly contemplative.

"You know captain, everyone does that, and I don't know why..." He sounded genuinely sad.

It unnerved Levi. He arched his brow.

"They just give me that look, like they're worried I might jump up and just kill them or something!"

Levi's face remained a stoic neutral as the man's tone took on an affronted sad turn.

"Being poisoned doesn't have the best effect on people's social skills..." Levi responded deadpan. The "you psycho" went unspoken.

"I'm not crazy you know. I'm misunderstood."

Levi just barely held back the scoff.

"It's true captain!" He insisted.

"I just wanted to have fun, but no one wants to play my games. Not Dok, not Pixis... But you know, you survey corps lot are different. I feel like we understand each other.

The nausea came creeping back, this time clawing its way to the heat. Something was going to happen, and it was going to be bad. Levi could just feel it...

* * *

The man rummaged in his coat pocket and before pulling out a wrinkled and folded piece of paper. He looked rather victorious, paper in hand.

"I don't suppose you know much about the fine art of observation and reconnaissance? From what I heard captain, you're more of the silent kill types. In and out." The man said as he unfolded the paper.

"Which is completely okay I suppose. I myself am more drawn to the dramatic deaths if I do say so myself."

Levi kept silent. He needed to gauge this man. The unpredictable ones were the most dangerous after all.

/;/but then again captain, I've heard my fair share of your more _artistic_ kills. I feel like we can relate. You too it seems, have an eye for blood."

The man finished unfolding the paper and was playing with the edges, peering down every couple of seconds, a smile on his face.

"But anywho. We can discuss that at a later time. Right now I want to show you one of my recruit's pieces. You should understand the pride I feel from seeing how well my recruits are doing."

And with that the man turned the paper so that Levi could see.

Levi in turn blanched.

Fate it seemed, was definitely **not** in his favor.

* * *

I hope you all liked!

Please R&R

I'll try to update soon! :)


	16. Rabbits Abound

New chapter! :)

Thank god for random holidays ~

But I do confess, this is a bit of a filler chapter :p Sorry!

* * *

"It was a challenging long term assignment and he did fabulously." the man crowed.

Levi couldn't pull his eyes from the paper.

Erwin's expedition team. It was taken in extremely close proximity. Almost as though the person was in the middle of the crowd of recruits. Erwin's back could be seen towards the upper right corner. To the sides were smiling recruits. It was an action shot.

How did...

The gears clicked into place and he knew.

He _knew._

A double agent.

Someone had managed to slip past him.

He racked his brain to remember. Who could it possibly have been?

"He told me that you were rather distracted." He patted Levi's shoulder. "It happens to the best of us."

"When did he-"

"Around the time Ackerman appeared, a perfectly acceptable excuse for not noticing." he said placatingly.

"How did he get the picture to you then?"

"Oh no no no Captain. That would take all of the fun out of the game! The question should be, now what?"

Levi kept his eyes on the man waiting for him to continue.

"Levi, can I call you Levi? My name is Dorian by the way. Dorian Graham. I'll run out of patience soon so, you should ask the question."

Silence...

"Now what?" He bit out without breaking eye contact.

Dorian looked overjoyed.

"We're going to start the game." Levi looked extremely bemused. Dorian continued.

"We, meaning you, me, my recruit, and Erwin's expedition team. We're all going to play this game."

Levi felt the beginnings of knots in his stomach.

"What game?" he asked, tendrils of fear creeping into his voice.

"One of my favorite games actually. Dok wasn't too good at it. I'm hoping you'll be a more interesting player."

He stood abruptly.

"Why don't we take this to the study. This room is such an un-fun place to begin."

He gestured to someone behind Levi and within moments he was free, the ropes falling to the floor.

He stretched out his sore and cramped muscles, wincing slightly as he did

"I would hope Captain, that I can trust you enough to refrain making any rash decisions. My men are armed with guns similar to those used by the Anti-human suppression squad."

Levi felt a shiver run down his spine. How many heads did he see get blasted by those guns? faces warped beyond recognition...

He nodded curtly.

* * *

The building was huge.

Ornate. Almost as if it were a noble's mansion.

He was lead, on purpose he assumed, to the study in a winded twisting way.

Turn after turn after turn.

Not that it mattered anyways. All of the hallways looked the same.

After a few more twists and turns they arrived.

He was lead into the study. The door shut ominously behind.

"Please, take a seat Levi."

Levi bristled. It unnerved him how friendly the man was acting. It seemed almost surreal; the man, the house. The whole situation was trippy to say the least.

"Possible side effect?" he thought as he zoned out.

* * *

The situation at hand was not in fact a hallucination Levi realized as something hot was pressed against his hands.

Flinching backwards he snapped his attention to the offending object, which turned out to be nothing more than a cup of tea.

He sniffed at it suspiciously.

His sight faltered and the room began to tilt.

Or maybe it was him...?

"One of my favorite teas captain. I insist you try,"

Levi nudged the tea to one side. His head already clearing.

"What the..."

Dorian continued sipping contently from his cup. Levi couldn't tell whether he was looking at him or just staring off into space, so he just kept his silence waiting for Dorian to begin speaking again.

* * *

It wasn't until Dorian noticed his cup was empty before he started.

He drew his head back, face betraying his shock. It was as though he had forgotten that Levi was even there.

"Oh my! I do apologize captain. It seems I zoned out again... So, what were we talking about again?"

His voice held so much sincerity that, for a moment Levi thought he was speaking to somebody else.

"The game."

All suspicions of Dorian having an alter ego were squashed when he suddenly sat up straight and clapped his hands with glee, a twisted glind returning to his eyes.

"Oh yes! The game. How could I have possibly forgotten about that?!"

Levi felt a shiver go through his spine.

"Be excited Levi. It's a wonderful game I promise!"

Levi narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Dorian.

"It's called Rabbit Doubt , and I assure you,

it's one killer game."

* * *

Notes notes notes notes notes. I love author's notes.

Anywho, first and foremost: thanks for reading!

Second: The character Dorian is a mix of two of my favorite characters who kind of sort of went "bad" (I personally love villains so...)

Dorian Gray (The Picture of Dorian Gray)

Will Graham - (Hannibal)


	17. An Interlude

An Interlude

* * *

Erwin nodded in satisfaction when the recruit reported their current location and ETA to their next destination.

"We'll be at the village around half an hour sir" the recruit saluted and marched away towards the group of recruits

bunched around the supply wagon.

Erwin smiled to himself.

"Maybe things would turn out to be okay after all" he mused, "with or without Levi here to help".

He composed himself once more before he gave the signal for everyone to prepare to leave.

All 51 of them.

* * *

O_O Dundundunnnnn~


	18. Games

Super sorry for the late update ~ Golden stars to everyone who waited for so long!

Onwards!

* * *

Tick- tick - tick- tick...

The room was getting colder and colder by the minute.

Not that Levi noticed.

He was too busy staring at the walls that were closing in slowly, and the air that wasn't quite right.

It was too quiet. Too still...

Graham had long since retired, excusing himself, rambling on about getting some business done early.

Not that he heard that either. But Graham didn't seem to mind.

He patted Levi on the shoulder encouragingly while spouting out encouragements.

Levi didn't hear those either...

His brain had decided to short circuit itself. How could he have been so stupid? So careless?

There was no other way to see the situation. He had let his guard down and now everyone was in danger.

In a spur of the moment he grabbed his tea cup and hurled it at the wall feeling satisfaction at the sharp crack of the delicate china.

* * *

It was ridiculous of course, Levi thought, to try and escape.

But the _sound._

The constant tick - tick - tick - tick of the metronome was drilling a hole in his brain.

He didn't think it through as he should have. He didn't listen.

He just grabbed the damned object and hurled it at the wall. It connected with a splintering sound and rained down in fragmented pieced on top of the shards of the tea cup he had thrown earlier.

He was definitely a sight to see, completely not himself. He was breathing heavily, no more in control of himself. He was no longer the calm and composed Captain that recruits coward under. His hair and clothes were disheveled and a crazed look gleamed in his eyes.

It hadn't even been a whole day yet and this is what Dorian did.

"Calm down!" He hissed at wouldn't give Graham the satisfaction of seeing him this way.

"My my captain. What a mess you've made.

All semblance of peace and tranquility that Levi had attempted to regain was gone. He whipped around to face the bastard, looking very much like a cornered animal.

"That metronome was my favorite one. It was so peaceful to listen to. But no matter!" Levi's eyes twitched as Graham's perked up.

This guy was insane. That much Levi could tell.

He took his seat motioning for Levi to do the same.

"I realized that I forgot the most important thing Levi! I forgot the rules!"

Levi remained quiet.

"So, Rabbit Doubt." Graham went on enthusiastically.

"You have one week. Starting from tomorrow morning at 05:00 hours. You have fifty one people captain, fifty not counting the Commander."

Levi cut in suddenly.

"That's not possible. Erw-"

"You weren't the only one under stress captain. If you remember correctly, it wasn't the commander who actually made the list was it? He had too many things on his plate to stress over that too. So, he assigned you and Hanji to do the job."

Levi's eyes widened as the implications hit him.

"It wasn't really anyones fault." Graham said lightheartedly in his disgustingly sweet voice. It reeked of blood and death, and it threw Levi off.

"Hanji thought it logical to add the commander to the fifty while you thought she messed up, so you added another name.

Hanji was quite right of course. Erwin never got around to checking the list, he just mentioned the number fifty. But he trusted both of you and that was how my recruit got in. Of course, he did think something was off, but strategies are always changed around last minute, so he never really caught the mistake."

Levi was at a loss for words.

What was he supposed to say? He had singlehandedly marched his recruits and Erwin into possible death all by not paying attention.

"Now now Captain, don't look so down. You've got to concentrate now. You have one week, starting tomorrow, so get your head in the game."

Levi sat motionless.

"This game will require a bit of guesswork. Not too much, But enough to make things interesting." Graham reassured.

"There are currently fifty recruits, one of them is mine. Your job is to try and guess who it is."

Levi narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Oh no no captain, it's much more difficult than that. You can guess as many times as you wish, but every incorrect guess will result in the death of that recruit."

Tension engulfed the room.

"My recruit will kill the recruit you chose if it was incorrect. However, if you choose correctly, my recruit won't hesitate to end himself."

The gears were turning in Levi's head.

"And if I decide to no guess?" His tone was flat but it held a scary sharpness to it.

Things were getting dangerous...

"Ah, here's the catch captain, and I'm only telling you because you're being a better sport than Dok was. He thought about that too. But alas, that wouldn't be fun at all! No no, you see Captain, if you decide to not guess, I'll take that as your forfeiture and at the end of the week I'll contact my recruit and tell him your decision. He'll then kill off all of the remaining people."

Levi scoffed.

"No one is that good Graham."

"He's not the only recruit I have _Captain. _Graham snarked back.

The tension rose to accompany the silence.

"And if I guess?" Levi asked hoarsely.

"If you guess, and it's correct, everyone remaining lives. If not, well, there'll be a lot of blood I suppose..." He chuckled softly.

"But I trust you'll be smart about your decision captain. Just imagine, all those poor recruits bleeding out on the field with no one else to blame but you.

You're a strong man Captain Levi, but I doubt even you'd be able to live with the blood of fifty innocent lives on your hands."

He left silently, shutting the door on the way out,

And for the first time in a long time Levi looked down to his hands to see blood dripping, and there was nothing he could do about it but watch.

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed!

I'll try to update faster this time, I promise! :)


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